refugees
Those seeking asylum
Refugees are people forced to flee their home country due to war, persecution, or disaster.
The word implies crossing an international border—those displaced within their own country are usually called internally displaced persons.
Refugees typically seek asylum or resettlement elsewhere: The camp housed thousands of refugees from the civil war.
The term sometimes extends to anyone fleeing difficult circumstances: economic refugees, climate refugees.
Granted-sanctuary immigrant
- petitionFormal written appeal
- statusOne's relative position
- adjudicationFormal decision on disputes
- appealFormal review request
UNHCR · sanctuary · protection · haven · resettlement · sponsorship · humanitarian · persecution
Reestablishing in new place
- citizenshipStatus as state member
- naturalizationLegal path to belonging
- assimilationAbsorbing into a whole
- acculturationAdopting another group's customs
language learning · employment · education · housing · community · host country · welcome · sponsorship
Removed from foundation
- statelessWithout national belonging
- fleeingRapid escape from danger
- dispossessedDeprived of home or land
- homelessWithout a dwelling
exiles · evacuees · stranded · displaced · banished · deracinated · outcasts · wanderers
Leaving homeland permanently
- immigrationRelocating abroad permanently
- diasporaScattered population sharing origins
- exodusMass departure from somewhere
- transmigrationSoul passing into another body
crossing · transit · border · journey · voyage · trek · flight · escape
Resolved dispute or colony
- tentPortable fabric shelter
- shelterProtected place or structure
- rationsControlled food portions
- registrationFormal recording of participation
aid · UNHCR · NGO · overcrowding · sanitation · makeshift · Rohingya · humanitarian
Armed struggle between groups
- persecutionSystematic mistreatment of groups
- genocideSystematic annihilation of a people
- ethnic cleansingSystematic removal of populations
- civil warDomestic armed conflict
violence · oppression · occupation · insurgency · bombing · casualties · warzone · hostilities
Guarding against harm
- conventionAgreed standard of behavior
- advocacyPleading for a cause
- legal statusOne's position in law
- representationDepiction or likeness
family reunification · work permit · documentation · healthcare · education access · social services · detention · due process
Capacity to recover quickly
- enduranceSustained effort capacity
- resourcefulnessAbility to solve problems creatively
- subsistenceMinimal means of living
- rationingLimiting distribution during scarcity
malnutrition · trauma · hardship · adaptation · self-sufficiency · scarcity · desperation · perilous
asylee
Granted-sanctuary immigrant
- petitionFormal written appeal
- statusOne's relative position
- adjudicationFormal decision on disputes
appeal · UNHCR · sanctuary · protection · haven · resettlement · sponsorship · humanitarian · persecution · immunity
resettlement
Reestablishing in new place
- citizenshipStatus as state member
- naturalizationLegal path to belonging
- assimilationAbsorbing into a whole
acculturation · language learning · employment · education · housing · community · host country · welcome · sponsorship · orientation
uprooted
Removed from foundation
- statelessWithout national belonging
- fleeingRapid escape from danger
- dispossessedDeprived of home or land
homeless · exiles · evacuees · stranded · displaced · banished · deracinated · outcasts · wanderers · adrift
emigration
Leaving homeland permanently
- immigrationRelocating abroad permanently
- diasporaScattered population sharing origins
- exodusMass departure from somewhere
transmigration · crossing · transit · border · journey · voyage · trek · flight · escape · smuggling
settlement
Resolved dispute or colony
registration · aid · UNHCR · NGO · overcrowding · sanitation · makeshift · Rohingya · humanitarian · food distribution
war
Armed struggle between groups
- persecutionSystematic mistreatment of groups
- genocideSystematic annihilation of a people
- ethnic cleansingSystematic removal of populations
civil war · violence · oppression · occupation · insurgency · bombing · casualties · warzone · hostilities · sectarian
protection
Guarding against harm
- conventionAgreed standard of behavior
- advocacyPleading for a cause
- legal statusOne's position in law
representation · family reunification · work permit · documentation · healthcare · education access · social services · detention · due process · Geneva Convention
resilience
Capacity to recover quickly
- enduranceSustained effort capacity
- resourcefulnessAbility to solve problems creatively
- subsistenceMinimal means of living
rationing · malnutrition · trauma · hardship · adaptation · self-sufficiency · scarcity · desperation · perilous · smugglers
- immigrationimmigrant, immigrants, visa, citizenship, asylum
- migrationmigration, immigrants, immigration, emigration, migrants
- migrantsmigrants, arctic tern, monarch butterfly, caribou, humpback whale
- peoplesAmericans, British, Chinese, French, Germans
- international lawinternational law, treaty, treaties, conventions, protocols
- diasporaAfrican diaspora, exiles, Irish diaspora, emigrants, Jewish diaspora
refugeeseconomic migrants
Those moving for work
immigrants · expats · expatriates · settlers · colonists
refugeesnatives
Original local population
residents · locals · citizens · homebodies · settlers
refugeeshosts
Those who entertain guests
host countries · benefactors · nationals · insiders · nativists
- refugee aidHelp for displaced persons
- take refugeSeek protection from danger
- Afghan refugeesPeople fleeing Afghanistan
- refugee campShelter site for displaced foreigners
- war refugeeOne fleeing armed conflict
- wildlife refugesProtected areas for animals