8.3 Refugees and Asylum Seekers - Defined

In the previous lesson we spent a great deal of time discussing migrants and the different types of migration. We specifically discussed “forced migration,” where individuals are coerced to migrate, which includes asylum seekers and refugees. As evidenced by the title of this lesson, asylum seekers and refugees will be the focus of this week.  First, we should begin with how these two categories of migrants are defined and how they are related to each other.

The definitions of who refugees and asylum seekers are should be relatively cut and dry; however, you’ll find that like with much of what we discuss, this is not the case (even though this is probably one time it really should be quite easy). Generally speaking, both refugees and asylum seekers are persons who are leaving their country of origin and seeking residence in a destination country due to persecution of some kind, violation of human rights, natural disasters, etc. The major difference between asylum seekers and refugees is that asylum seekers are waiting for legal recognition of their refugee status (Amnesty International, 2021).

Refugee status does come with certain legal protections under the 1951 Convention and 1967 Optional Protocol relating to the status of refugees. The 1951 Convention defines a refugee as a person “who is outside his or her country of nationality or habitual residence who is unable or unwilling to return due to a well-founded fear of persecution based on his or her race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group” (International Justice Resource Center, n.d.). While the Convention and Protocol provide legal for refugees and the rights afforded to them, it does not indicate how a state determines who is a refugee, which has led to differences in how countries determine who is a refugee (International Justice Resource Center, n.d.; Zetter 2007).  That said, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 146 countries signed the 1951 Convention and 146 signed the 1967 Protocol. The number of countries that signed one or both is 149 and are depicted in Figure 1. South Sudan, the world’s youngest nation, gained independence in 2011, and ratified the 1951 convention in 2018. Don’t let the years fool you, though the Refugee Convention and Protocol were written in 1951 and 1967, respectively, countries continue to ratify the contents.

Figure 8.1 Map displaying the ratifiers of either the 1951 Convention or the 1967 Protocol as of at least 2018.

Credit: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Click here to see the data for the map above

Table 8.1 - Ratifiers of the United Nations 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol

Country	Convention	Protocol
Afghanistan	30 Aug 2005 a	30 Aug 2005 a
Albania	18 Aug 1992 a	18 Aug 1992 a
Algeria	21 Feb 1963 d	08 Nov 1967 a
Angola	23 Jun 1981 a	23 Jun 1981 a
Antigua and Barbuda	07 Sep 1995 a	07 Sep 1995 a
Argentina	15 Nov 1961 a	06 Dec 1967 a
Armenia	06 Jul 1993 a	06 Jul 1993 a
Australia	22 Jan 1954 a	13 Dec 1973 a
Austria	01 Nov 1954 r	05 Sep 1973 a
Azerbaijan	12 Feb 1993 a	12 Feb 1993 a
Bahamas (the)	15 Sep 1993 a	15 Sep 1993 a
Belarus	23 Aug 2001 a	23 Aug 2001 a
Belgium	22 Jul 1953 r	08 Apr 1969 a
Belize	27 Jun 1990 a	27 Jun 1990 a
Benin	04 Apr 1962 d	06 Jul 1970 a
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	09 Feb 1982 a	09 Feb 1982 a
Bosnia and Herzegovina	01 Sep 1993 d	01 Sep 1993 d
Botswana	06 Jan 1969 a	06 Jan 1969 a
Brazil	16 Nov 1960 r	07 Apr 1972 a
Bulgaria	12 May 1993 a	12 May 1993 a
Burkina Faso	18 Jun 1980 a	18 Jun 1980 a
Burundi	19 Jul 1963 a	15 Mar 1971 a
Cabo Verde		09 Jul 1987 a
Cambodia	15 Oct 1992 a	15 Oct 1992 a
Cameroon	23 Oct 1961 d	19 Sep 1967 a
Canada	04 Jun 1969 a	04 Jun 1969 a
Central African Republic (the)	04 Sep 1962 d	30 Aug 1967 a
Chad	19 Aug 1981 a 19	Aug 1981 a
Chile	28 Jan 1972 a	178983378.8
China	24 Sep 1982 a	24 Sep 1982 a
Colombia	10 Oct 1961 r	04 Mar 1980 a
Congo (the)	15 Oct 1962 d	10 Jul 1970 a
Costa Rica	28 Mar 1978 a	28 Mar 1978 a
Côte d'Ivoire	08 Dec 1961 d	16 Feb 1970 a
Croatia	12 Oct 1992 d	12 Oct 1992 d
Cyprus (the)	16 May 1963 d	09 Jul 1968 a
Czech Republic (the)	11 May 1993 d	11 May 1993 d
Denmark	04 Dec 1952 r	29 Jan 1968 a
Democratic Republic of the Congo (the)	19 July 1965 a	13 Jan 1975 a
Djibouti	09 Aug 1977 d	09 Aug 1977 d
Dominica	17 Feb 1994 a	17 Feb 1994 a
Dominican Republic (the)	04 Jan 1978 a	04 Jan 1978 a
Ecuador	17 Aug 1955 a	06 Mar 1969 a
Egypt	22 May 1981 a	22 May 1981 a
El Salvador	28 Apr 1983 a	28 Apr 1983 a
Equatorial Guinea	07 Feb 1986 a	07 Feb 1986 a
Estonia	10 Apr 1997 a	10 Apr 1997 a
Ethiopia	10 Nov 1969 a	10 Nov 1969 a
Fiji	12 Jun 1972 d	12 Jun 1972 d
Finland	10 Oct 1968 a	10 Oct 1968 a
France	23 Jun 1954 r	03 Feb 1971 a
Gabon	27 Apr 1964 a	28 Aug 1973 a
Gambia (the)	07 Sep 1966 d	29 Sep 1967 a
Georgia	09 Aug 1999 a	09 Aug 1999 a
Germany	01 Dec 1953 r	05 Nov 1969 a
Ghana	18 Mar 1963 a	30 Aug 1968 a
Greece	05 Apr 1960 r	07 Aug 1968 a
Guatemala	22 Sep 1983 a	22 Sep 1983 a
Guinea	28 Dec 1965 d	16 May 1968 a
Guinea-Bissau	11 Feb 1976 a	11 Feb 1976 a
Haiti	25 Sep 1984 a	25 Sep 1984 a
Holy See	15 Mar 1956 r	08 Jun 1967 a
Honduras	23 Mar 1992 a	23 Mar 1992 a
Hungary	14 Mar 1989 a	14 Mar 1989 a
Iceland	30 Nov 1955 a	26 Apr 1968 a
Iran (Islamic Republic of)	28 Jul 1976 a	28 Jul 1976 a
Ireland	29 Nov 1956 a	06 Nov 1968 a
Israel	01 Oct 1954 r	14 Jun 1968 a
Italy	15 Nov 1954 r	26 Jan 1972 a
Jamaica	30 Jul 1964 d	30 Oct 1980 a
Japan	03 Oct 1981 a	01 Jan 1982 a
Kazakhstan	15 Jan 1999 a	15 Jan 1999 a
Kenya	16 May 1966 a	13 Nov 1981 a
Kyrgyzstan	08 Oct 1996 a	08 Oct 1996 a
Latvia	31 Jul 1997 a	31 Jul 1997 a
Lesotho	14 May 1981 a	14 May 1981 a
Liberia	15 Oct 1964 a	27 Feb 1980 a
Liechtenstein	08 Mar 1957 r	20 May 1968 a
Lithuania	28 Apr 1997 a	28 Apr 1997 a
Luxembourg	23 Jul 1953 r	22 Apr 1971 a
Madagascar	18 Dec 1967 a
Malawi	10 Dec 1987 a	10 Dec 1987 a
Mali	02 Feb 1973 d	02 Feb 1973 a
Malta	17 Jun 1971 a	15 Sep 1971 a
Mauritania	05 May 1987 a	05 May 1987 a
Mexico	07 Jun 2000 a	07 Jun 2000 a
Monaco	18 May 1954 a	16 June 2010 a
Montenegro	10 Oct 2006 d	10 Oct 2006 d
Morocco	07 Nov 1956 d	20 Apr 1971 a
Mozambique	16 Dec 1983 a	01 May 1989 a
Namibia	17 Feb 1995 a	17 Feb 1995 a
Nauru	17 Jun 2011 a	17 Jun 2011 a
Netherlands (the)	03 May 1956 r	29 Nov 1968 a
New Zealand	30 Jun 1960 a	06 Aug 1973 a
Nicaragua	28 Mar 1980 a	178986270.8
Niger (the)	25 Aug 1961 d	02 Feb 1970 a
Nigeria	23 Oct 1967 a	02 May 1968 a
Norway	23 Mar 1953 r	28 Nov 1967 a
Panama	02 Aug 1978 a	02 Aug 1978 a
Papua New Guinea	17 Jul 1986 a	17 Jul 1986 a
Paraguay	01 Apr 1970 a	01 Apr 1970 a
Peru	21 Dec 1964 a	15 Sep 1983 a
Philippines (the)	22 Jul 1981 a	22 Jul 1981 a
Poland	27 Sep 1991 a	27 Sep 1991 a
Portugal	22 Dec 1960 a	13 Jul 1976 a
Republic of Korea (the)	03 Dec 1992 a	03 Dec 1992 a
Republic of Moldova	31 Jan 2002 a	31 Jan 2002 a
Romania	07 Aug 1991 a	07 Aug 1991 a
Russian Federation (the)	02 Feb 1993 a	02 Feb 1993 a
Rwanda	03 Jan 1980 a	03 Jan 1980 a
Saint Kitts and Nevis	01 Feb 2002 a
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	03 Nov 1993 a	03 Nov 2003 a
Samoa	21 Sep 1988 a	29 Nov 1994 a
Sao Tome and Principe	01 Feb 1978 a	01 Feb 1978 a
Senegal	02 May 1963 d	03 Oct 1967 a
Serbia	12 Mar 2001 d	12 Mar 2001 d
Seychelles	23 Apr 1980 a	23 Apr 1980 a
Sierra Leone	22 May 1981 a	22 May 1981 a
Slovakia	04 Feb 1993 d	04 Feb 1993 d
Slovenia	06 Jul 1992 d	06 Jul 1992 d
Solomon Islands	28 Feb 1995 a	12 Apr 1995 a
Somalia	10 Oct 1978 a	10 Oct 1978 a
South Africa	12 Jan 1996 a	12 Jan 1996 a
Spain	14 Aug 1978 a	14 Aug 1978 a
South Sudan	01 Oct 2018 a	01 Oct 2018 a
Sudan (the)	22 Feb 1974 a	23 May 1974 a
Suriname	29 Nov 1978 d	29 Nov 1978 d
Swaziland	14 Feb 2000 a	28 Jan 1969 a
Sweden	26 Oct 1954 r	04 Oct 1967 a
Switzerland	21 Jan 1955 r	20 May 1968 a
Tajikistan	07 Dec 1993 a	07 Dec 1993 a
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia	18 Jan 1994 d	18 Jan 1994 d
Timor-Leste	07 May 2003 a	07 May 2003 a
Togo	27 Feb 1962 d	01 Dec 1969 a
Trinidad and Tobago	10 Nov 2000 a	10 Nov 2000 a
Tunisia	24 Oct 1957 d	16 Oct 1968 a
Turkey	03 Mar 1962 r	31 Jul 1968 a
Turkmenistan	02 Mar 1998 a	02 Mar 1998 a
Tuvalu	07 Mar 1986 d	07 Mar 1986 d
Uganda	27 Sep 1976 a	27 Sep 1976 a
Ukraine	10 Jun 2002 a	04 Apr 2002 a
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the)	11 Mar 1954 r	04 Sep 1968 a
United Republic of Tanzania (the)	12 May 1964 a	04 Sep 1968 a
United States of America (the)		01 Nov 1968 a
Uruguay	22 Sep 1970 a	22 Sep 1970 a
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)		19 Sep 1986 a
Yemen	18 Jan 1980 a	18 Jan 1980 a
Zambia	24 Sep 1969 d	24 Sep 1969 a
Zimbabwe	25 Aug 1981 a	25 Aug 1981 a
Note: Ratification (r), Accession (a), Succession (d)

Environmental/Climate-Driven Migration

When most think about refugees and asylum seekers, they immediately think of those who are fleeing conflict areas, areas that are war torn, or have particular discriminatory policies. However, with the increasing research surrounding the effects of global climate change, environmental and climatic refugees are becoming a burgeoning and important group of refugees. The relationship between environmental drivers and migration began to be explored in the 1980s by the scholars El-Hinnawi and Jacobson (Berchin et al., 2017; Mence & Parrinder, 2017). The policy issues surrounding climate refugees were not considered widely until around 2006, when the Maldives government drew attention to this group by calling a meeting (Biermann & Boas, 2008). Currently there are no legal avenues for climate refugees to achieve refugee status as there are for other types of refugees, and they are not protected by the 1951 Convention. Here again, as in Zetter’s (2007) research, labels and the perception of those labels become important: the implications of “refugee” versus “displaced person” (Berchin et al., 2017; Mence & Parrinder, 2017).

Many researchers highlight that there have not been many instances where climate change was the only reason for a refugee to migrate, and highlights a few examples from Pacific Islands (Podesta, 2019; Mence & Parrinder, 2017). The fact that environmental and climate change related migration, like with all types of migration,  likely will have multiple causes makes the attempts to define it all the more difficult, and thus complicates the potential applications to policy. How do environmental migrants differ from climate change migrants? Should one group be considered “refugees” over the other?

References