Definition Essay On Refugees

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When defining what a refugee is, one must establish what type of refugee is being discussed. The types of refugees stem from the reason they came to be so. Refugees tend to be categorized as a singular type of person, however, this is incorrect. Not only are there refugees, but there are internally displaced persons (IDP), stateless persons, and asylum seekers. The UN Refugee Agency defines a refugee as “someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war, or violence” (“What is a Refugee”). This differs from an internally displaced person, who is designated as someone who fled due to fear of persecution, but has stayed within their original state’s borders. A stateless person is someone who does not possess citizenship …show more content…
These are the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol. These are foundationally established based on the core principle of “non-refoulement”. Non-refoulement is the concept that “a refugee should not be returned to a country where he or she faces serious threats to his or her life or freedom” (“Helping Refugees”). However, it is crucial to note that this does not apply to those who: are deemed a threat to national security, are or have been convicted of serious crimes, or those who are believed to be a danger to a community. This means that a refugee enters a host country with guaranteed rights ensured by the 1951 Convention. These rights are those that are typically perceives as human rights, such as the right to housing, mobility within a territory, and the access to courts. The longer that a refugee resides in a host country, the more eligible they become to other rights. According to the UN Refugee Agency, this is derived from the notion that “the longer they remain as refugees, the more rights they need” (“Helping Refugees”). There are concrete global efforts to approaching the problem of refugees. Most of these illustrate how to integrate a refugee into the society of their host country. These include voluntary reparation, local integration, and resettlement (“The State of the

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