are asylum seekers illegal immigrants?
You know how it goes: there’s the intense music on the news, the extra serious tone in the newsreader’s voice, and the sense that aach boat arrival is like an invading warship. Something doesn’t add up. So, it’s time to seperate fact from fiction and work out what’s really going on with refugees. The difference between an asylum seeker and a refugee: An asylum seeker is someone who is seeking international protection but whose claim for refugee status has not yet been determined. In contrast, a refugee is someone whose claim for refugee status has been officially recognised under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of refugees. According to the United Nations High Commission For Refugees (UNHCR), the 1951 convention defines a ‘refugee’ as any 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 or, owing to suc
