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Serious Request SR2008 Refugees Who is a Refugee
Serious Request SR2008 Refugees Who is a Refugee
Serious Request :Who is a refugee
| Who is a refugee? |
| Sunday, 21 December 2008 13:06 |
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Who is a refugee? Refugees are people who are forced to leave their home country to seek protection from harm in another country. There’s nowhere like home: Benta Yero returns to Mauritania - 21 Feb 08 Official UNHCR 1951 Refugee Convention’s definition: People who are outside their country of nationality or habitual residence, and have a well-founded fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion (full definition). However, the legal definition used by many countries to decide if they will offer protection to the individual is much narrower. Who are Internally-Displaced People (IDPs)? You become a refugee only if you cross an international border from your home country into another state, for instance, from Zimbabwe to South Africa. Afghanistan's internally displaced, June 2008 Most people who are forced to flee for one reason or another head for the nearest safe place, and this is usually another city within the same country. For instance, during the post-election violence in Kenya at the end of last year/start of this year, many people fled their homes in fear of their lives because of the tribe to which they belonged, but they fled to other parts of Kenya. “Outcasts in their own land”, they are referred to as Internally-Displaced People (IDPs) Tales of despair at IDP camp, Kenya 3rd September, 2008 IDPs may face the same dangers as refugees, but are not classified as such, and the level of protection afforded them is even lower than that sometimes offered to refugees. Of the 36 million mentioned above, 22.5 million are IDPs, and, according to the UNHCR, “probably form the single largest group of vulnerable people in the world”.
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| Last Updated on Sunday, 21 December 2008 19:28 |
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