The legal standards were exacting and esoteric. Fleeing a gang, for example, was legally distinct from fleeing a repressive government, even if the gang controlled a country like a shadow state. Leaving a country that had become too dangerous wasn’t the basis for asylum; leaving it under specific threats of imminent death or torture was. Fending off starvation didn’t count as a form of persecution. Immigration law didn’t align with the muddled exigencies of the region, and most applicants, however sympathetic, would find their entry barred.
