Difference between refugee and asylum
Refugee vs asylum:
In a world where war and terrorism are recurring phenomena, it is of no wonder that certain individuals seek out shelter in other countries in order to escape the many horrors, threats and unpleasant memories that threaten them in their land of residence. However, in order to thus escape, one must first make an appeal to the government of the country that they are seeking shelter in, stating the reasons as to why they should be allowed refuge away from their country. The words ‘refugee’ and ‘asylum’ are two words that are thus utilized commonly in this context, in order to refer to the state of requiring shelter in another land.
Who is refugee?
A refugee is an individual who dwells outside his or her country of origin due to fears of persecution for reasons of race, nationality, religion or individual political opinion and as a result, who is unwilling to render him or herself to the security which is offered by his or her country of refuge. He or she has thus received a positive reaction regarding their asylum application directed towards another country as a result of being recognized as a refugee under the UN 1951 Convention on Refugees and has been granted shelter in a country of his or her choice. The largest sources of refugees in the world according to statistics can be listed as Afghanistan, Myanmar, Iraq, Sudan and Palestinian territories.
What is asylum?
Asylum is a place of refuge and protection where one is offered shelter away from harm, threat or violence. Criminals and debtors as well as war victims seek refuge in this manner as they cannot be taken against their will in order to be executed or to be harmed when in asylum. An asylum seeker is an individual who has thus made an application seeking asylum and who is yet to receive a decision regarding the application. Several countries where asylum is offered to such individuals can be listed as the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States and etc.
What is the difference between asylum and refugee?
There is absolutely no doubt that the words asylum and refugee are interconnected. And yet, however interconnected they may be according to context, these two terms stand for different things. While a refugee is a person who is seeking protection in another country due to security reasons, asylum is what is offered to him or her once he or she has made an application, seeking refuge.
A refugee finds the country of his or her origin or birth to be posing as a threat and is thereby interested in seeking shelter in another country which he or she believes as safe. They are legal groups who usually do not wander very far away from their country of origin. Once such an individual has applied for shelter in another country and his or her application has not yet been approved, he or she is referred to as an asylum seeker. Those of whose applications for refuge have been answered with favorable replies are known as refugees.
UN agencies for refugees as established according to the conventions of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are found all over the world. It undertakes the responsibility of assisting the settlement, repatriation or relocation of such people to another country and because of their commitment to this task and the incredibly noble deed of providing relief to such destitute individuals, they had been offered the Noble Peace Prize twice in 1954 and in1981.
According to US laws, in order to be allowed refuge in the country, one needs to fulfill three criteria. First and foremost, an asylum applicant is required to establish that he or she fears persecution while secondly, the asylum seeker is required to prove that he or she would be persecuted on account of a protected ground which are namely race, religion, nationality, political opinion and social group. The third condition that must be fulfilled is that he or she should establish that the government is either involved in the persecution or unable to control the conduct of private actors. If all three of these criteria are fulfilled, an asylum seeker is offered refuge in a country that offers refuge to such individuals.
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