Asylum and migration
Asylum and migration
Managing migration and providing asylum are closely connected and require tailored processes for different groups of people. To effectively tackle the worldwide challenges linked to people’s movement, it's crucial to adopt comprehensive approaches based on specific routes. These approaches should ensure that those in need of international protection can access asylum, all while minimizing risks like arbitrary detention, trafficking, smuggling, and other potential harms for both refugees and migrants. This is especially important in situations involving mixed movements.
UNHCR works together with governments, humanitarian agencies, civil society and other partners to tackle challenges related to refugee protection and migration management. The goal is to address the complexities of these two interconnected yet distinct frameworks.
What are "mixed movements"?
The expression "mixed movements" refers to the cross-border movement of people, generally in an irregular manner, involving individuals and groups who travel alongside each other, using similar routes and means of transport or facilitators, but for different reasons. People travelling as part of mixed movements have different needs and profiles and may include asylum-seekers, refugees, victims of trafficking, unaccompanied or separated children, stateless persons, and migrants (including migrants in irregular situations or migrants in vulnerable situations).
What is UNHCR’s role?
More and more, asylum-seekers, refugees, and stateless persons move alongside migrants, often facing abuse and exploitation along the routes.
UNHCR helps protect people on the move by working with States and partners to
- build sustainable asylum systems that can respond to mixed movements;
- safeguard access to asylum and solutions for persons in need of international protection;
- ensure people on the move can exercise their rights in line with international standards.
Refugee or Migrant?
Refugees are people who cannot return to their country of origin because of a well-founded fear of persecution, conflict, violence, or other circumstances that have seriously disturbed public order, and who, as a result, require international protection.
The tendency to conflate refugees and migrants, or to refer to refugees as a subcategory of migrants, can have serious consequences for the lives and safety of people fleeing persecution or conflict.
Without question, all people who move between countries deserve full respect for their human rights and human dignity. However, refugees are a specifically defined and protected group in international law, because the situation in their country of origin makes it impossible for them to go home. Calling them by another name can put their lives and safety in jeopardy.
The important distinction between refugees and migrants was acknowledged by the UN General Assembly in the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants.
Relevant UNHCR documents on terminology include:
- UNHCR's position on international agreements for the transfer of asylum seekers
- Joint Statement on Place of Safety
- Protection Policy Paper 'The return of persons found not to be in need of international protection to their countries of origin: UNHCR's role'
- Executive Committee Conclusion No. 96 (LIV) - 2003 on the return of persons found not to be in need of international protection
- UNHCR's Guidance Note on bilateral and/or multilateral transfer arrangements of asylum-seekers
- UNHCR's Guidelines on Temporary Protection or Stay Arrangements
- UNHCR's perspective on Migrants in vulnerable situations
- UNHCR's perspective on Persons in need of international protection
- UNHCR Protection Training Manual for European Border and Entry Officials
- Refugee Protection and Durable Solutions in the Context of International Migration
- Note on International Protection (2017)
