Understanding Migration and Displacement
Original Editor - Naomi O'Reilly
Top Contributors - Naomi O'Reilly, Jess Bell, Kim Jackson, Carin Hunter, Shaimaa Eldib and Tarina van der Stockt
Introduction[edit | edit source]
Definitions[edit | edit source]
Migrant[edit | edit source]
Asylum Seeker[edit | edit source]
When people flee their own country and seek sanctuary in another country, they apply for asylum – the right to be recognized as a refugee and receive legal protection and material assistance. An asylum seeker must demonstrate that his or her fear of persecution in his or her home country is well-founded.
Internally Displaced Person[edit | edit source]
According to the United Nations Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, an internally displaced person, or IDP, are "persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence, violations of human rights or natural or human-made disasters, and who have not crossed an internationally recognized state border." IDPs stay within their own country borders and remain under the protection of its government, even if that government is the reason for their displacement. While often referred to as refugees, although they do not fall within the legal definitions of a refugee. Unlike refugees, they are on the run at home.
Refugee[edit | edit source]
A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee their country and crossed an international border to find safety in another country as a result of persecution, war or violence. Refugees are defined by the 1951 Refugee Convention as: “someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.”
