What is the difference between a refugee and an asylum seeker?
A refugee is someone who has been forced to leave their own country in order to escape war, persecution and natural disaster.
An asylum seeker is a refugee who has not yet proved what they are escaping from and that they are a genuine case.
An international migrant has a choice to migrate whereas a refugee is forced to leave the country.
- Germany, Italy and Greece accepted large groups of refugees when former Yugoslavia split apart in the early 1990's
- Large groups of Armenians migrated to France
- Spain and Italy have been traditional 'stepping stones' for North Africans coming to Europe
- The UK has recently accepted refugees from Pakistan, Libya and Zimbabwe
- 130,000 refugees sought asylum seeker status in the first 6 months of 2011
The political status of refugees
An international agreement on the rights of refugees was signed in 1967 by 147 countries. Refugees were divided into two groups: economic and political refugees. In 1967, a new set of guidelines on refugees was drawn up. However, in recent years many states have become concerned about accepting new waves of refugees. They have taken steps to protect themselves by various means; reducing financial benefits, reducing the quality of social services and speeding up the quality of asylum seekers claims and setting up detention centres to hold asylum seekers while there cases are being investigated.
The Canary islands
The Canary islands, Malta, Ceuta and Melilla are all close to Africa and have relatively good transport links due to the short distance. They are easy to access because they are offshore of Africa and are between Africa and Europe. The Canary islands are located south - west of Spain and are close to the north west of Morocco in Africa. These islands are seen as a gateway to Europe because of the fairly short distance.
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