Refugees and Asylum seekers. What's the difference, anyway?
An educational blog about refugee definitions.
Boat people, illegal immigrants, queue jumpers, refugees, asylum seekers. There are many words being used to describe displaced persons, some carry a negative connotation, so what is a refugee? Is there a difference between a refugee and an asylum seeker?
Refugees
A refugee is someone who has fled a dangerous living situation, often war, in their own country, and sought safety in another. They have a well-founded fear of being persecuted for their race, religion, nationality, political opinions or social group in their country of origin and cannot return there safely (1). The definition was decided upon at the 1951 Refugee Convention, which was drafted in response to the displacement of millions of people in WWII and the refusal of many nations to take in Jewish refugees escaping the Holocaust. It is designed to ensure no country ever turns its back again on vulnerable groups who need to escape persecution (5).
Asylum Seekers
The terms ‘asylum seeker’ and ‘refugee’ are often used interchangeably, and it can be confusing to understand exactly what they mean. Asylum seekers are people who have sought protection as a refugee but are still waiting for their application for refugee status to be assessed.
Gaining refugee status is a legal process that governments or the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) use to determine whether a person seeking international protection is a refugee under law (3). This process can be lengthy, difficult, and different, depending on a range of factors.
Are asylum seekers ‘illegals’?
Generally speaking, ‘illegal immigrants’ are people who enter a country without meeting the legal requirements for entry (e.g. without a valid visa). However, in the 1948 Universal declaration for Human Rights, everyone has the right to seek asylum and the 1951 Refugee Convention prohibits states from imposing penalties on those who come directly from a territory where their life or freedom is threatened. Furthermore, according to the Refugee Convention, a person is a refugee as soon as they satisfy the set definition, which is well before they are given the official status of refugee. It is important to note that the term ‘asylum seeker’ does not exist under the convention but is a politically expedient label given to people who are seeking recognition of their refugee status. So a person does not become a refugee when they receive that status from the government or UNHCR, rather they are finally recognised as being one.
The Journey of a Refugee
The first country that a person arrives at and attempts to find safety in, after leaving their home country, is called the country of first asylum. Unlike Australia, many of the countries people are fleeing from have land borders which means people can walk or drive to a neighbouring country. This isn’t always as easy as it sounds though, often there are mountain and river barriers, warfare going on, and a high risk of being caught and turned back. Not having their passport or other official documentation, and not speaking the language of the country of destination are further obstacles they many face.
In some countries the UNHCR has worked with local governments to establish refugee camps, an area established specifically for people fleeing danger; often just outside the border areas of one country and inside a neighbouring one. When refugees can’t access a camp, which is the case for around 60% of the world’s refugees, they are usually forced to live in urban areas or move between countries in search of refuge. This looks like living in makeshift homes, often alongside railway tracks, riverbanks, or in the poorer districts of a city, town or village, often without a long-term solution in sight. (7)
Refugee camps themselves are overcrowded, under-funded, and the people there endure very difficult, sometimes dangerous living conditions. The UNHCR reports that there are over one million refugees in need of resettlement, but only 80,000 placements offered per year by countries around the world.
Resettlement is the transfer of refugees from the country in which they sought refuge to another that has agreed to admit them. Resettlement in a third country may be the only way to guarantee the protection of a refugee who is at risk of forcible return, or who faces other serious problems in the country they have sought asylum. For example, a refugee and his family in China facing imminent return to the country from which they fled (North Korea) may urgently require resettlement to a resettlement country (such as USA, Canada or New Zealand) to avoid being forcibly returned to persecution. (6)
If UNHCR assesses a refugee to be eligible for resettlement it does not mean that they have joined an orderly ‘queue’, and that they will be guaranteed resettlement to another country when their ‘number comes up’. Though refugees may be assessed by UNHCR as eligible for resettlement, in reality they face a potentially indefinite waiting period for a resettlement country to offer them a resettlement place. This process has been likened to a hospital triage system in which needs are constantly reassessed in order to prioritise the most acute cases. Moreover, the ultimate decision as to whether they will be granted a refugee visa is dependent on the country which has agreed in principle to resettle them. In Australia, when a person’s refugee visa has been granted and they have been offered resettlement, they are usually given a flight and arrive here by plane.
Regardless of the labels that we give each other, we are all human. We are people who share the same hopes and dreams to protect and care for our loved ones, to love & be loved, to feel safe and secure, and to known that we belong here, now. Let's move & live beyond mere labels and see people, as we see ourselves. To love our neighbour as we love ourselves.
References
UNHCR, Convention relating to the status of refugees, UNHCR, Geneva, 2007, p. 16.
UNHCR, ‘Refugees: flowing across borders’, UNHCR website.
Habitat for Humanity, ‘Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants, a Crucial Difference’, Habitat for Humanity website.
Amnesty International ‘Refugees, Asylum-seekers and Migrants’, Amnesty International website.
The Conversation ‘Explainer: Australia’s obligations under the UN Refugee Convention’, The Conversation website.
https://www.aph.gov.au/binaries/library/pubs/bn/sp/asylumfacts.pdf - Australian Government
https://www.roads-to-refuge.com.au/journeys/journeys-seeking.html
