Alberta Social Studies 20-2 Practice Exam

The main idea is understanding who is considered a refugee. A refugee is someone who has to leave their country to seek safety because they have a well-founded fear of persecution, war, or danger, and they are outside their homeland and cannot or will not return. This definition, used in international law, distinguishes them from others who move for different reasons. A migrant moves for various reasons, often economic, not necessarily to escape danger. An exile is someone forced to live away from their country, usually for political reasons, but the term doesn’t always imply the fear of persecution covered by refugee status. An immigrant moves to a new country with the intention of settling, not specifically to escape danger. So, the term that best fits someone leaving to seek safety is refugee.