A refugee is... The Refugee Dictionary Commissioned by UK for UNHCR to mark the 70th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention The Refugee Dictionary Commissioned by UK for UNHCR to mark the 70th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention The Refugee Dictionary | UK for UNHCR | 2021 Foreword My earliest memories were coloured by the 2021 has been a year like no other, with word “refugee”. I never quite understood millions of refugees impacted by the what the word meant as we moved through COVID-19 pandemic and a record 82 million borders on foot, by train or by plane. I didn’t people forcibly displaced around the world. understand why sometimes the word opened So it was important we mark the 70th doors and we would be welcomed in, and anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention other times it would close a door, and we and acknowledge the millions of lives it has Copyright © UK for UNHCR would be cast out. protected to this day. First published in the UK in 2021. At detention centres and refugee camps, I When the Convention was first adopted on was captivated by the different ages, clothes 28 July 1951, it legally defined ‘refugee’ and UK for UNHCR is the UN Refugee Agency’s and customs; the lullabies sung in different enshrined the rights of people fleeing conflict national charity partner for the UK, raising awareness of refugee crises and mobilising languages, and the fragrant smell of foods and persecution to seek refuge in another public support to help protect refugees I couldn’t yet pronounce. I was struck by country. To this day, the Convention protects worldwide through UNHCR’s work. how some carried their grief openly, and these rights and underscores the need for others hid it behind a joke, how some shared global cooperation and shared responsibility UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, leads stories of their homelands, and others never as we protect those forced to flee their international action to protect people forced mentioned where they had come from but homes. to flee their homes because of conflict and only where they were going. persecution. Thanks to voluntary contributions The UK has a long history of providing refuge from our UK supporters and partnerships, Although we shared the same label, none and was among the founding nations that UNHCR teams can deliver life-saving of us shared the same story. helped to draft the 1951 Convention. Seventy assistance like shelter, food and water, help years on, we decided to ask the public what My story started in Iraq. In the early 90s my safeguard fundamental human rights, and the word ‘refugee’ means to them today. ensure people have a safe place to call home family and I fled the Gulf War. As Kurds living where they can build a better future. UNHCR in Saddam’s Iraq, we had already lost so Some share their lived experience, or that also works to ensure that stateless people are much, and we were not ready to lose more. of family members, friends or communities. granted a nationality. Between the ages of one and six I was a child Others share their solidarity and commitment refugee travelling through Turkey, Azerbaijan, to supporting refugees. Together they form The 1951 Refugee Convention was originally Russia, the Netherlands and finally the UK. this dictionary of one word – refugee – created with a time-limited mandate to help reflecting the countless stories of survival, European refugees after the Second World Today I am a trustee of UK for UNHCR, courage, hope and new beginnings made War return home or resettle. That mission working to protect and celebrate refugees possible by the Convention. was expanded, first to help a new wave of everywhere. European refugees in the 1950s (such as We are so grateful to all those who The rich and varied lived experiences of those fleeing the Hungarian uprising) and then, contributed and we are delighted The people who are displaced is often reduced through the 1967 Protocol, becoming a global Refugee Dictionary will be accessioned by down to the single word “refugee”. At the mandate to help those fleeing an increasing The British Library for future generations, heart of this book is a different message: no number of conflicts around the world. becoming a record of public solidarity for one is ever just a word, we are always a story. UNHCR serves as the ‘guardian’ of the 1951 refugees in 21st Century Britain. Convention and its 1967 Protocol; they are Mevan Babakar The world has changed considerably since key legal documents that form the basis of Trustee, UK for UNHCR, and Deputy CEO, the Convention was drafted but it remains the agency’s work and enshrine the rights Full Fact of people fleeing conflict and persecution to just as relevant today, if not more so. We seek asylum in another country. hope that the UK’s tradition as a place of safety for refugees continues just as strongly. UK for UNHCR is a registered charity in Printed on FSC® certified paper made England and Wales (charity number 1183415). with elemental chlorine-free pulp using Emma Cherniavsky Learn more online at www.unrefugees.org.uk biodegradable plant-based inks Chief Executive Officer, UK for UNHCR A refugee is... A refugee is (n) a person who “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country” – The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees The Refugee Dictionary | UK for UNHCR | 2021 The Refugee Dictionary | UK for UNHCR | 2021 A refugee is (n) like my mother, fleeing A refugee is (n) a champion of the Nazi Germany for her life, coming as a full rights of a human being, not only child to the UK with no English, finding a figure of our vulnerability and need. friends and becoming a midwife They become a refugee by refusing – Revd Dr Sam Wells, Vicar of St brutality, not succumbing to it. They are Martin-in-the-Fields, London recognised as a refugee because we are tied to their enactment of the need (n) like family. Life will get A refugee is for freedom – George, Edinburgh better – Sawsan A refugee is (n) my heritage: my mother a person, like (n) someone who could be A refugee is (n) A refugee is and grandmother – Peter, London anyone... could be you, could be me. you and me, who just wants to We just never know what life holds for A refugee is (n) a person with the same us – Anon rights, hopes and aspirations as anyone call a place home, to belong, to else. S/he has to restart his/her life all A refugee is (n) someone who seeks a over again in the country of sanctuary, be safe and to live without fear. safe place to realise their potential – Jon so deserves solidarity and consideration A refugee is (n) someone we should because s/he has had to survive terrible treat with the same love and compassion hardship and overcome awful ordeals When all those things suddenly we would wish to be treated with if we – Patricia, Swansea were in their position – Ezra, Lewes disappear, we have to create A refugee is (n) a courageous, A refugee is (n) one who provides triumphant human that has a right to space in our communities, to us with the opportunity to become a safe and healthy future – Amina, compassionate, loving and generous Brooklyn, USA friends, both to some of the most help refugees repair and rebuild A refugee is (n) a human being forced vulnerable people on earth, and to flee an inhumane, dangerous situation simultaneously, to the Divine – Anon their lives – so that one day they – Steve, Southend-on-Sea A refugee is (n) someone with hopes can find home again A refugee is (n) my great grandparents, and dreams; a refugee is my mother who had the guts to cross the borders who brought so much to this country; – Filippo Grandi, United and the Atlantic to escape in the a refugee never loses memories of loss; most ingenious ways, find safety and a refugee brings richness and passion Nations High Commissioner raise their family in 1929 – Ana, IKEA to their new country; a refugee is a Glasgow success story, once given a chance; for Refugees A refugee is (n) a human who seeks a a refugee is me – Baroness Julia home that they can’t find at home, they Neuberger might find shelter but not the refuge A refugee is (n) someone who for they always opted for – Anon, Refugee desperate reasons is forced to try and student, UNHCR DAFI Scholarship transfer to another country – Anon programme 8 9 The Refugee Dictionary | UK for UNHCR | 2021 The Refugee Dictionary | UK for UNHCR | 2021 A refugee is (n) someone who shares A refugee is (n) someone who could the experiences of my people; has be anyone of us. We should all treat walked in the shoes of my family; Refugees the way we would like to be knows how it feels to be a stranger in treated if we found ourselves to be a strange land; and who deserves a displaced – Sulaika, Sussex warm welcome, a safe home, and the opportunity to write their own story in a A refugee is (n) a person of any age, either male or female who desperately new book – Raymond Simonson, has to escape from their home country CEO, JW3 due to an impossible situation meaning the mother A refugee is (n) someone who could they cannot live there any more A refugee is (n) be anybody, a refugee could be you – Alison, Peebles or I if circumstances were to change.