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refugee — English
A person of any age who flees from one place to another for fear of his/her life. Throughout the history of humankind there have always been refugees in all areas of the world. Owing to the reasons why people flee, certain regions on Earth are more readily associated with refugees than others, but there are very few regions that have never experienced the phenomenon. People mostly flee as a result of political instability, religious intolerance, famine and starvation, but natural hazards such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and floods have often caused people to flee. True refugees are people who flee with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Often they simply grab their children and run. They do not carry identification papers, money, possessions, valuables, or food and blankets. They are totally at the mercy of the host community which they have fled to (see “host community”). When people flee for political or religious reasons they mostly flee over an international border and their flight is permanent. When fleeing from starvation or natural hazards their flight might be to a different part of their own country and they often return once the threatening conditions in their areas of origin have changed. Host communities might receive assistance from the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), but an influx of refugees is extremely traumatic for the host country or community. Reception centres are often constructed to deal with the refugees. Political refugees might get political asylum in the host country, but these are temporary arrangements, which allow them to remain in the host country for a restricted period only. Then they have to flee on or return to their country of origin. The UNHCR would never send people back home if it means certain death, but to find permanent solutions for refugee crises are not easily found. There are currently millions of refugees all around the world, and this is not any different from what the case has always been although the numbers of refugees have probably never been higher than they currently are, simply because the world population is currently larger than ever. Refugees should not be confused with migrants. South Africa is currently being flooded with economic migrants from a number of African states. Very few of these people are refugees in the true sense of the word. Except for a small number of Zimbabweans and Somalis, the vast majority of these people have not fled from life-threatening political situations or war; they have migrated to South Africa in order to find gainful employment. They are escaping from depressed economic conditions in their countries of origin, but in many cases they are granted asylum status simply because there is no other way to keep track of them all. These poor people are undoubtedly a burden on social services and economic progress in South Africa.
