A Handy Guide to UNHCR Emergency Standards ... - UNHCR eCentre

UNHCR eCentre
PROTECTION
8
Refugee Definitiona
A refugee is defined as:
any person who is outside his/her country of origin and who is
unwilling or unable to return there or to avail him/herself of its
protection because of:
i. a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of
or
race
religion
nationality
membership of a particular social group
or political opinion;
ii. a threat to life or security as a result of armed conflict and other
forms of widespread violence which seriously disturb the public
order.
Whether a person is a refugee is not dependent on formal recognition, but
on the fact of meeting the definition of refugee.