What is the legal definition of a refugee?
The 1951 Refugee Convention is a key legal document and defines a refugee 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.”
What is a status of a refugee?
Refugee Status Determination, or RSD, is the legal or administrative process by which governments or UNHCR determine whether a person seeking international protection is considered a refugee under international, regional or national law.
What are two definitions of refugee?
: an individual seeking refuge or asylum especially : an individual who has left his or her native country and is unwilling or unable to return to it because of persecution or fear of persecution (as because of race, religion, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion)
How do I prove refugee status?
The most important document for an officer to review is either the refugee application or the relative petition, which provides proof of status and establishes identity (with attached photo) as well as citizenship, since most refugees will not have a birth certificate or a passport.
What is the difference between refugee status and asylum?
The primary difference between a refugee and an asylee is that a refugee is granted refugee status while still outside the United States; an asylum seeker is granted asylee status after entering the country or while seeking admission at a port of entry.
How do you qualify as a refugee?
Under United States law, a refugee is someone who:
- Is located outside of the United States.
- Is of special humanitarian concern to the United States.
- Demonstrates that they were persecuted or fear persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.
How do you get refugee status?
To receive refugee status and be allowed to resettle within the United States, you must:
- Be referred to the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) by UNHCR, a U.S. Embassy, or a nongovernmental organization; or.
- Start the application process with a Department of State Resettlement Support Center.
How do you determine if someone is a refugee?
A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war or violence. A refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.
Who is recognized as a refugee?
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), a refugee is an alien who, generally, has experienced past persecution or has a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
Who is covered by the Convention Relating to the status of refugees?
Considering that the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees done at Geneva on 28 July 1951 (hereinafter referred to as the Convention) covers only those persons who have become refugees as a result of events occurring before I January 1951,
What is a refugee?
A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, war or violence.
What are the rights of a person seeking asylum?
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. What is the 1951 Refugee Convention?
What is the exclusion clause in refugee law?
James Hathaway, in The Law of Refugee Status , says that the exclusion clause is ‘rooted in both a commitment to the promotion of an international morality and a pragmatic recognition that states are unlikely to agree to be bound by a regime which requires them to protect undesirable refugees’. (p214)