2.3 Refugee or immigrant?

In this section of the game pupils must decide whether or not some people are refugees or immigrants.

The right to seek asylum and to be protected from persecution is codified by international law. Refugees are distinct from other people who may need help because of their need for international protection. Many people can turn to their national authorities in order to have their rights upheld. Refugees do not have this option.

UNHCR is mandated to ensure that refugees are protected in the countries where they seek asylum. First and foremost, it is UNHCR’s responsibility to ensure that refugees are not returned to countries where they risk being persecuted. International protection is not just about physical protection; UNHCR also works to uphold the fundamental human rights of refugees. Refugees also have the right to family reunification- where their family come to join them in their country of asylum so that they may live together.

Awareness exercise

Ask the pupils in your class to explain what they think “asylum” means. Then distribute a copy of the following text:

Being forced to flee is often the result of gradually escalating circumstances. But sometimes a sudden event can trigger the need to flee. Asylum is when another state allows those who are fleeing to enter their territory and grants them protection. Finally, a fortunate few may find a permanent solution to their situations and cease to be refugees.

Discuss within the class what asylum entails. The right to seek asylum is enshrined in Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Read Article 14, and discuss it with the class. The full and simplified versions of the UDHR can be found in the educational links.
Ask the class to read the article “history of asylum” in the web facts and discuss why different cultures and religions have agreed to grant political asylum throughout the ages.
Explain the concept of an “asylum seeker” to the class: An asylum seeker is a person who has crossed international borders in order to seek asylum in another country. He or she has requested protection and has the right not to be returned to a country where he or she may be put in danger.

The collection of information about violence and violations of human rights in different countries is of great significance to organisations that support refugees or human rights in general. UNHCR prepares country guidance which is available on the RefWorld website. Likewise, Amnesty International investigates individual country situations. They use a variety of different sources to monitor events in each country. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) also publishes country information.

Split the class into different groups and assign each group the task of investigating a certain country’s human rights situation using the internet. See the list of education weblinks for links to UNHCR’s RefWorld, Amnesty International and the OHCHR. Students should also try to establish which sources were used with regard to the information about the country in question.

Ask the groups to justify to the class what they have concluded, and to discuss the importance of using multiple sources, in order to strengthen the credibility of their material.

Goal: To generate knowledge of what asylum entails and who has the right to receive it.

Comprehension exercise

The UN defines a refugee as a person who finds themselves outside of their country of nationality or habitual residence and cannot return due to a well-founded fear of persecution based on his/her race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.

In addition to protecting and assisting refugees who meet this definition, UNHCR’s work often involves giving protection or assistance to people who escape armed conflict and human rights’ violations. UNHCR also helps “Internally Displaced Persons” (“IDPs” – i.e. persons displaced by war or persecution within their own country) by providing shelter and assistance when they find themselves in “refugee-like situations”.

In order to receive refugee status, UNHCR or, in some countries, the government’s immigration authorities (the Border and Immigration Agency in the UK) must decide whether an individual’s asylum application is based on a well-founded fear of persecution. But how do you decide whether an individual is a refugee or not?

Ask the pupils to work in pairs with the following statements. They can mark which ones they think meet the definition of a refugee. When all students are done with the exercise, the class can compare their answers and definitions.

I am scared of being arrested because of my political opinions and because torture takes place in my country.
It is illegal for me to speak my native language in public or to name my child in our language.
I cannot get a better job as my identification papers show that I am a member of a certain religious group.
My parents are forcing me to marry somebody I don’t want to marry.
I cannot practice my religion. It is illegal.
I have been harassed because I belong to a certain ethnic group. The police turn a blind eye to this type of aggression. I am scared that I will be subjected to this again.
I am a homosexual man and homosexual relations are forbidden in our country. The people in my village found out about my sexual orientation and burnt my house down and forced me to move.
I am scared. I am an active member of our trade union and other activists have disappeared and later been found murdered.
I have already spent eight years in jail for criticising the government during a public meeting. Now I am frightened of being jailed again.

All of these individuals could meet the refugee definition: they have all fled their country of origin because of a well-founded fear of persecution. Well-founded means they have to have experienced persecution or be likely to experience it on their return. The grounds for the persecution all result from one of the five reasons given in the definition above.

The following cases would not meet the definition of a refugee:

My daughter is seriously ill and we cannot afford the heart operation that she needs. Now we are seeking asylum in another country – This individual would not qualify as a refugee, but may be granted another form of humanitarian protection to ensure the health of the child.
I want to buy more land and expand my estate. But it is illegal to own more than 25 acres – This individual is not facing persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality etc.
My brother was jailed because our regime does not like his views- The brother may well qualify as a refugee if he had fled his country because of this persecution. The individual would have to show that the regime would also persecute him for his brother’s political dissidence.
I cannot find work in my home country and my whole family is poor. I want to seek asylum in a European country to better look after the people I love. This individual is not a refugee; they are fleeing hardship rather than persecution.

To assist their discussion, students can read the ‘Refugee or Immigrant?’ section of the web facts.

Goal: To increase awareness of what asylum entails and why you might seek it.

Interactive exercise

Allow pupils to express concepts or words related to fleeing, by forming group “statues” using their bodies.

Each group is assigned a word or concept to think about, such as “flight”, “border”, “fear”, “followed”, “terror”, “loss”, “rejected”, “welcomed” etc. Groups discuss among themselves and then, using their bodies, form a statue that communicates their mutual interpretation of the word or concept assigned to them. Each group must then exhibit their statue to the rest of the class.

The rest of the class examines the statue.

Each student should freely associate with the image and write down words or short sentences as a suggested headline to each of the images the statues form.
In pairs, ask the students to compare their impressions and headlines.
Ask the pupils in each group how it felt to act out their words or concepts.
Building on their headlines, pupils may then write a short story and illustrate it with a drawing or photo cut from a newspaper.

Goal: To create a deeper insight into the uncertainty and fear that a refugee feels during the flight itself.