What is the difference between a migrant a refugee and an asylum seeker

Many become lawful permanent residents and eventually citizens. Immigrants research their destinations, explore employment opportunities, and study the language of the country where they plan to live. Most importantly, they are free to return home whenever they choose. An economic migrant is different from a refugee or asylum seeker — this is someone who leaves his or her country of origin purely for financial or economic reasons.

Economic migrants choose to move in order to find a better life and they do not flee because of persecution. Some economic migrants may ultimately settle in their destination country, and could then be considered an immigrant.

However, many economic migrants do not lay down roots in their new country — for example, seasonal agricultural laborers may work for a few months in the U. Refugees resettled in the U. As soon as they arrive, refugees may legally work immediately. They also have the right to file applications to have family members still abroad to join them.

After one year in the U. If refugees wish to travel outside the United States, they need to obtain a Refugee Travel Document in order to return to the United States. If they do not obtain a Refugee Travel Document in advance of departure, they may be unable to re-enter the United States.

According to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, if they return to the country from which they fled, refugees will have to explain how they were able to return safely.

Asylum seekers and asylees do not have the same rights as refugees once in the U. Asylum seekers cannot apply for permission to work in the U. Migrants are people who are leaving their home country and pursuing residency in another place, generally to find work, seek education, or to be reunited with their families. Unlike refugees, migrants can return home to their country if they wish. Many people in Central America face extreme poverty and lack of resources such as food, shelter, access to public services to meet their basic needs.

Some believe that that the term migrant should be redefined as a more precise, neutral term. The two situations are not comparable, but currently the same label would be applied in both cases. A refugee is any person who has been forced to flee their country due to war, persecution, or natural disaster, because their home government cannot or will not protect them. When a refugee flees, they are registered with an official agency, such as a government or the United Nations, which allows them to gain access to state and international aid and assistance.

Refugees have legal protections guaranteed by the United Nations Refugee Agency, or UNHCR, including economic and social rights, and the ability to bring immediate family with them. Every refugee is initially an asylum seeker, although not every asylum seeker becomes a refugee. Asylum seekers are not officially designated refugees, but they have appealed to achieve refugee status. Their hope is to return home as soon as it is safe to do so. We most often talk about refugees, but — as noted in the numbers above — there are far more IDPs in the world today.

A young girl stands in the doorway of her temporary home in the swamps of Unity State, South Sudan, where her family are internally displaced, hiding from conflict. While assistance to refugees is a legal requirement, the principles on internal displacement are non-binding.

Displaced persons still have rights, including the right to receive humanitarian assistance, protection from physical violence, and freedom of movement. But because of national sovereignty, it is the country in which a person is displaced that is primarily responsible for their assistance and protection. Some governments are unable or unwilling to provide that protection.

Many IDPs are forced into camps, and many lack the means or ability to leave their country of origin even if they want to. Migrant is the classification for someone who is moving between temporary homes within their origin country or across international borders. This is different from an immigrant, who makes the conscious decision to move and resettle in a new country.

While legal migrants enjoy many rights and refugees have their own special protections, migrants who are traveling without valid passports or travel documents — including those who were forced to flee without those documents, or do not have them — are often much more vulnerable. As of , 1 person is uprooted every 2 seconds often with nothing but the clothes on their backs.

Consider this example: Omar is a young man fleeing violence in Syria. He makes a treacherous journey across the Mediterranean, and arrives in Greece. There, he ends up in a camp that is overcrowded and there are few economic opportunities as the area.

Omar hears from friends in Sweden that, if he moves there, he can get a decent job and apartment. So he leaves Greece and flies to Sweden. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer, as different countries interpret the law in different ways.

Currently, there are These are refugees and asylum seekers. There are others who are looking for jobs or an education—they are usually called migrants—and people who want to live permanently in another country—immigrants. A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her home because of war, violence or persecution, often without warning. They are unable to return home unless and until conditions in their native lands are safe for them again.

An official entity such as a government or the United Nations Refugee Agency determines whether a person seeking international protection meets the definition of a refugee, based on well-founded fear. There are more than 1. This family shelters in an unfinished building. Those who obtain refugee status are given protections under international laws and conventions and lifesaving support from aid agencies, including the International Rescue Committee.

Refugees in the U.