Refugee Crisis Notes

The Refugee Crisis

Background

  • The UN Refugee Agency's annual “Global Trends study” found that 100 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide at the end of 2023.
  • The current Canadian Liberal Government (2017), having run on a platform of acceptance of refugees, has resettled 200,000 refugees since coming to power in November 2015. This includes both Government-assisted and privately sponsored refugees, with priority given to women, children, and families.

What is a Refugee?

A KWL (Know, Want to Know, Learned) chart is suggested to be used to document prior knowledge, questions, and learnings about refugees.

Definitions

  • Refugee: A person who is forced to flee from persecution and is located outside of their home country.
  • Convention Refugee: This definition, relating to the Status of Refugees, is used in Canadian law and widely accepted internationally. To meet this definition, a person must be outside their country of origin and have a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.
  • Protected Person: According to Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, this is a person who has been determined to be either:
    • (a) a Convention Refugee, or
    • (b) a person in need of protection (e.g., someone who is in danger of being tortured if deported from Canada).
  • Refugee Claimant or Asylum Seeker: A person who has fled their country and is asking for protection in another country. It is unknown whether a claimant is a refugee until their case has been decided.

Discussion Questions

  • Have you ever felt displaced?
  • What thoughts, feelings, or emotions are attached to being displaced?
  • Why is it important to humanize the refugee crisis?

KWL Chart

Fill in the “Learned” section of the KWL chart after the discussion and learning activities.