Missionaries of the Sacred

“Someone who has been forced to move from his or her home because of conflict, persecution...or because of a natural disaster or some other unusual circumstance of this type. Unlike refugees, however, IDPs remain inside their own country.”¹

“The 1951 Refugee Convention describes refugees as people who are outside their country of nationality or habitual residence, and have a well-founded fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. People fleeing conflicts or generalized violence are also generally considered as refugees, although sometimes under legal mechanisms other than the 1951 Convention.”¹

“Someone who has made a claim that he or she is a refugee, and is waiting for that claim to be accepted or rejected. The term contains no presumption either way - it simply describes the fact that someone has lodged the claim.”¹

The difference has to do with how applications are processed. For instance, people apply for refugee status outside the United States. People already present in the United States apply for asylum.

An immigrant is “someone who takes up permanent reside in a country other than his or her original homeland.”¹ Note that this definition is very broad, does not distinguish between entering the country legally or illegally, and includes refugees and people granted political asylum.

Migrants move to a foreign country for a certain length of time but, unlike immigrants, do not take up permanent residence.