Showler uses satire to expose the prejudices, myopia, ignorance, provincialism, and lack of sensitivity that mark the decisions of officials. Refugee Sandwich attacks the patronage-based system of appointment and re-appointment and its sometimes tragic consequences, revealing the wide gulf between legal ideal and legal fact. Against a historical analysis of human rights abuses from a dozen countries, the author offers a sympathetic rendering of the predicament of the refugee claimant as well as a critical look at some of the more common devices and abusive strategies employed by fraudulent claimants.