Refugee / Right of asylum - Economy-point.org

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To leave refugee designation in the everyday life language a person, who was arranged by political coercive measures, wars or existence-endangering states of distress, their homeland passing or in the long term.

Definitions

A closer term than usually in the everyday life language is justified in the international refugee right by those Geneva refugee convention for the legal status of the refugees of 1951. Afterwards is considered as a refugee, who is "from the justified fear of pursuit for reasons of the race, religion, nationality, affiliation to a certain social group or because of its political conviction outside of the country, whose nationality it possesses, and who protection in particular the 'war refugees '''.

This definition excludes the following groups:

The estimated on approximately 25 million (internally displaced person), which did not flee abroad. These are called also "refugees".
The increasing number of the misery and environmental refugees. In the future environmental problems will contribute to an increased stream of refugees. Scientists assume that according to a current UN study that it will already give in the year 2010 50 million environmental refugees, humans, who flee for environmental reasons from their homeland.
So-called restaurant refugees, who without serious threat situation their homeland voluntarily from economic considerations, in which, left hope for an improvement of the life situation. The distinction between voluntariness and "economic obligation" becomes difficult.

The two latters are recognized of many states not as refugees and receive no asylum. They are called "illegal immigrants".

In addition there are so-called tax refugees, who try to escape from the delivery load in their homeland. See tax evasion.

Situation of the refugees

Refugees left their homeland, because they were pursued there, often also abused and tortured. Many have terrible experiences behind itself, were raped, to have seen, how were murdered member. The escape often runs under dramatic and strenous circumstances. Beside physical they suffer it also from mental injuries, are traumatisiert. To mention it is still that among the refugees a large number of children is, who are particularly strongly affected by all that.

Each refugee has the right in a country to be taken up to get there again security too experienced and with the processing of the escape support. The reality looks often differently: To national places it concerns primarily to keep the duration of stopover as short as possible. General rights as to liberality, work, human being-worthy accommodation, medical supply and Psychotherapie are withheld. This and the continuing threat at any time to be pushed away often work retraumatisierend. Many private relief organizations and initiatives try to arrange for the refugees the living conditions more bearable

Legal aspects

Until refugees received an official refugee status, they are considered as asylum search or asylum-seeker. If their status is recognized as a refugee, they receive political asylum and to have to requirement on a travel document of identification for refugees. Some states are relatively tolerant and accept frequently requirements for asylum; others reject it almost radical.

Countries, which joined the refugee convention of 1951 and minutes 1967, are obligated to the protection of the refugees and cannot push refugees away not arbitrarily into their country of origin. Refugees can contact also the UN-High Commissioner for refugee questions (UNHCR). Not all nations of the world joined that Geneva refugee convention - some ignore at present this international standard.

The Palestinian refugees due to the Palestine war of 1948 and their descendants do not fall under the 1951 locked convention and/or the UNHCR, however under the UNRWA agenda decided before. Thus they are subject to a special status; see: Palestinian refugees.

Literature

Michael R. Marrus, the unwanted ones, association A, 1999
Independent expert commission Switzerland second world war. Direction of the project Gregor Spuhler, Switzerland and the refugees at present the national socialism, Berne, 1999
Independent expert commission Switzerland second world war (Bergier report); Berne: BBL/EDMZ, 2002
Schikorra, Katja, "refugee children in the no man's land. Their situation in Germany", Logophon publishing house, 2004