Distinguish between migrants and refugees. Why are both of them considered a new source of threat to security?

Briefly, a refugee is the person who has fled his or her country to escape war or persecution and can prove it. The 1951 Refugee Convention, negotiated after World War II, defines a refugee as 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. Among those crossing the Mediterranean in the first half of 2015, the greatest numbers came from Syria, Afghanistan or Eritrea. Syrians are widely presumed to be refugees because of the civil war there, according to the United Nations refugee agency. Many Afghans have been able to make the case that they are fleeing conflict, the agency added, and Eritreans can generally argue that they would face political persecution at home in Eritrea, which is ruled by one of the world's most repressive regimes. Anyone moving from one country to another is considered a migrant unless he or she is specifically fleeing war or persecution. Migrants may be fleeing dire poverty, or maybe well-off and merely seeking better opportunities, or maybe migrating to join relatives who have gone before them. There is an emerging debate about whether migrants fleeing their homes because of the effects of climate change the desertification of the Sahel region, for example, or the sinking of coastal islands in Bangladesh ought to be reclassified as refugees. Q. Are migrants treated differently from refugees? A. Countries are free to deport migrants who arrive without legal papers, which they cannot do with refugees under the 1951 convention. So it is not surprising that many politicians in Europe prefer to refer to everyone fleeing to the continent as migrants.

read less

Briefly, a refugee is the person who has fled his or her country to escape war or persecution and can prove it. The 1951 Refugee Convention, negotiated after World War II, defines a refugee as 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. Among those crossing the Mediterranean in the first half of 2015, the greatest numbers came from Syria, Afghanistan or Eritrea. Syrians are widely presumed to be refugees because of the civil war there, according to the United Nations refugee agency. Many Afghans have been able to make the case that they are fleeing conflict, the agency added, and Eritreans can generally argue that they would face political persecution at home in Eritrea, which is ruled by one of the world's most repressive regimes. Anyone moving from one country to another is considered a migrant unless he or she is specifically fleeing war or persecution. Migrants may be fleeing dire poverty, or maybe well-off and merely seeking better opportunities, or maybe migrating to join relatives who have gone before them. There is an emerging debate about whether migrants fleeing their homes because of the effects of climate change the desertification of the Sahel region, for example, or the sinking of coastal islands in Bangladesh ought to be reclassified as refugees. Q. Are migrants treated differently from refugees? A. Countries are free to deport migrants who arrive without legal papers, which they cannot do with refugees under the 1951 convention. So it is not surprising that many politicians in Europe prefer to refer to everyone fleeing to the continent as migrants. read less