Page 6 - Finding Refuge: Real-Life Immigration Stories from Young People

may have relatives or friends already living in a certain country,
or they may have heard that a certain country is more accepting
of their culture or beliefs than their homeland.
Often, refugees do not have a choice, and they are assigned
the place where they will be resettled. Countries that receive
refugees decide who and how many people they will admit.
There is no perfectly safe or welcoming country where every
refugee has a positive experience, but refugees make the best of
the situations they find in their new homes.

What Happens When People

Become Refugees?
When people leave home looking for safety, they are asylum
seekers. According to international law and the Universal Dec-
laration of Human Rights, everyone has the right to seek asy-
lum. People may cross borders and request asylum from the
country they arrive in, or they may register with an organiza-
tion to get help resettling in another country.
Before they are granted refugee status, asylum seekers
must pass background checks and health checks, in addition to
answering many questions to prove that they are who they say
they are. People who have committed crimes are not eligible
for refugee status. If their request is processed and approved,
they are officially refugees, meaning they have a clear legal sta-
tus in their new countries.
Sometimes, people cannot find a safe place to wait during the
long and difficult application process, or they fear their applica-
tion will be denied on a technicality. They may try to enter a new
country without legal documentation. If discovered by authori-
ties, they may be held in a detention facility or deported—sent to
another country, often the very country they fled.

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