Who is a refugee?

1. All kinds of people are refugees, but no one is a refugee by choice.
2. Refugees are forced to flee out of fear for their lives and freedom.
3. The last two decades have seen record increases in the number of the world's refugees. These millions of people without a home can often seem overwhelming to those working to find a solution.
4. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there are 9 - 10 million refugees worldwide and an additional 25 million "internally displaced persons", people who have fled to a different part of their own country. 
   
   
5. A refugee is a person who "owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country..."  (The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees).

1. Each refugee story and experience is unique. While refugees flee different countries, are of different faiths, different races and/or political opinions they all are victims of injustice. They are people forced to flee their homes and in need of a solution.

1. Most refugees would prefer to return to their homes and sometimes that becomes possible after conditions in their country improve.  However, in many cases it will never be possible to return safely.
2. If it is also impossible for the refugee to integrate into the asylum country (the first country they fled to after leaving their own country), then third country resettlement becomes the only solution.
3. The Canadian government as part of is efforts to aid in finding a solution for the world's refugees selects refugees for resettlement to Canada. The refugees selected are allowed to come to Canada as permanent residents through the government-assisted refugee program. The government assists these individuals to help them become independent members of Canadian society.   In addition, refugees may be "privately sponsored".

  http://www.unhcr.org/basics.html

• Refugee Claimants.  Not long ago, people rarely came to Canada’s borders to request protection from persecution.
• However, as the number of people fleeing persecution has increased and international travel has brought the world closer together, refugees are sometimes able to present themselves at Canadian borders and seek asylum.  These are refugee claimants.
• As a signatory to the U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, Canada does not return these people, but instead determines if they are indeed refugees.
• If found to be so, they are allowed to remain in Canada.
• Refugee claimants cannot be sponsored.