Refugees and Migrants

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses the differences between refugees and migrants and looks at why these distinctions are important for political reasons. Specifically, the paper discusses trends of migrant and refugee movements over time. The paper also looks at the ways that migrants and refugees are referred to within the United Nations and the laws that relate to these two groups.

From the Paper:

"It is important thus to create a set of clear procedures and screening process that would allow genuine asylum seekers to get refuge. For this reason, a distinction is sought between migrant and refugee. In quite poignant manner, the Convention states that a migrant is someone who may lose better quality of life if he is turned down, a refugee is someone who might lose his life altogether. The Convention and other UNHR handbooks offer clear guidelines on the issue of distinction between migrants and refugees. One handbook revised in 2007 makes the distinction between a migrant and a refugee in these words: "A migrant is a person who, for reasons other than those contained in the definition, voluntarily leaves his country in order to take up residence elsewhere. He may be moved by the desire for change or adventure, or by family or other reasons of a personal nature. If he is motivated exclusively by economic considerations, he is an economic migrant and not a refugee. The distinction between an economic migrant and a refugee is, however, sometimes blurred in the same way as the distinction between economic and political measures in an applicant's country of origin is not always clear.""

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Convention relating to the Status of Refugees" Office of High Commissioner for Huma rights: Retrieved online 27th Oct 2007 http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/o_c_ref.htm
• The Refugee Council June 2004, Retrieved online 27th Oct 2007 http://www.migrationwatchuk.org/pdfs/Legal/8_11_distinction_asylumseeker_and_refugee.pdf.
• Jose Riera, Migrants and Refugees, Why Draw a Distinction? Retrieved online 27th Oct 2007 http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2006/issue4/0406p31.htm

More papers on Refugees and Migrants:

• Research Paper # 110349 : "Urban Refugees"
• Research Paper # 114106 : "Australian New Immigrants and Refugees"
• Essay # 41595 : "Women, Work and the Family in Canada"

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