we are
refugees

The Syrian refugee situation, has
become one of the in the last decade. biggest humanitarian crisis’

Syrians have fled their homes
since the 2011. An estimated 9 million outbreak of civil war in March

we watch on tv

we read in the news…

But do we understand who
and what a refugee is? But do we understand refugees are?whatand who

expect refugees to look like
this… Many

And get when we see
images like this. baffled

It’s easy to view images
and get confused.

So who as refugees?qualifies

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 or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it… A refugee is: ” -1951 United Nations Refugee Convention ”

war criminals. guilty of committing
serious non-political crimes. guilty of acts contrary to the purpose and principles of the united nations. refugees cannot be:

1951 united nations refugee convention
(aka the “geneva convention”). This is the definition agreed upon at the

This decree was enacted when
hundreds of thousands of war refugees were displaced from all across Europe. World War II,after

In 1967, the treaty was
amended to include refugees from around the world.

Over the past several decades,
142 states have signed on to both the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 protocol.

The Geneva Convention treaty also
defines who is NOT a refugee.

An internally displaced person An
IDP is a person who has been forced to flee his or her home for the same reason as a refugee, but remains in his or her own country and has not crossed an international border.” - UNHCR A refugee is not: ”

Refugees are protected by international
law and eligible to receive aid. An internationally displaced person is not.

An asylum seeker A stateless
person is someone who is not a citizen of any country. A refugee is not:

Asylum seekers are first evaluated
in order to obtain refugee status.

they can be sent back
to their home countries. If an asylum seeker is judged to not be in need of international protection,

A forced migrant A refugee
is not: A person leaving not due to persecution, but because of natural disasters (drought, floods, earthquakes…)

A person leaving their country
due to economic reasons. Even when leaving extreme poverty. A refugee is not: An economic migrant

but why does the definition
of a refugee matter?

Because, as a refugee you
are given certain rights:

“non-refoulment” refugees cannot be forced
to return to his or her home country. refugee rights:

illegally entering countries that are
signed to the treaty. refugee rights: the right to not be punished for

the right to housing. refugee
rights:

refugee rights: the right to
work.

refugee rights: access to an
education.

access to public assistance. refugee
rights:

freedom of movement within the
territory. refugee rights:

The right to obtain identification
and travel documents. refugee rights:

A refugee becomes entitled to
other rights the longer they remain in the host country.

refugees?
so who are these

men
are refugees.

refugees are women. women are
refugees.

children
are refugees.

a refugee is not defined
by appearance.

they are not defined by
race.

what they are fleeing. they
are defined by

accepting refugees
for countries

the fear is that with
the refugees…

will follow.
violence

Those tasked with approving or
rejecting asylum seekers, the job is even more difficult.

Screening is
imperfect.

Honesty
is not guaranteed.

Making it difficult to judge
who we can trust.

for us living with the
safety these refugees seek,…

will our moral obligation to
help fellow humans…

prevail over our
fears?