No one wants to be a refugee originally, it is situations that create the subject of this vulnerable group. People that flee their country of origin are not often a prima facie category of being a refugee by such actions.

At-times a lot of individuals who are illegal migrants mix themselves up into this vulnerable group to escape undetected by immigration officials at internationally recognized borders of countries but international law specifically international refugee law makes certain key criteria to entitle a forcibly displaced person to shelter and asylum in another country from an original country of whom they fled from.There is a difference between a refugee and an asylum seeker.

It is critical that such distinction be known as a lot of misconception and interchange have been made concerning those separate terminologies. Although they both share similar pact, an asylum seeker on one hand is a person who fled their home country due to conflict, war or to escape persecution and is seeking protection from a foreign country but has not yet been legally recognized as a refugee.

A refugee on the other according to the Refugee Convention of 1951, Article 1A2 is a person who owing to a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable to or owing to such fear, unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.

The difference between the two is one of legal status and protection rights of which a refugee enjoys on being recognized by international law and the host country having satisfied the criteria that enables one to become a refugee. an asylum seeker however is in a state of limbo as their legal status has not been confirmed by the host country and its immigration authorities which makes their challenge much terrifying, discomforting and unstable.The idea of distinguishing the two should not create a daunting parity.

All refugees were once asylum seekers but not all asylum seekers became refugees. The position on International Refugee Law is of the intendment at weeding out the seeds from the chaffs especially for situations that concern vulnerable groups.It is not a misnomer to state that asylum seekers are also a vulnerable group but the protection they will enjoy in International Refugee law is predicated on the confirmation of their status as refugees. However it does not eliminate the protection of international Law in this regard for asylum seekers specifically that of International Human rights Law. So an asylum seeker is not a prisoner for another country on entry. He or she is entitled to the respect of their dignity and not to be subjected to any form of treatment that will violate that dignity vested in them by International Human Rights Law. Nonetheless, a wanted citizen of serious crime in a country or an escapee has a limited version of those liberties as they fall outside of even identifying as an asylum seeker or engaging in an application for refugee status. Although it is debatable.It is to note that the circumstances that entitles one to asylum is different from the procedure that determines Refugee status.

While the below circumstances as will be explained below entitles an asylum seeker originally to his or her confirmation as a refugee and entry into a foreign country or otherwise, the procedure to determine that status is governed entirely by that foreign country jurisdiction and style of practice. Some are excessively stringent and others are balanced taking into cognizance the dignity of the human person. It is one of the reasons that we need Refugee lawyers as a matter of practice as the bureaucracy these procedures convey, place these vulnerable groups whether as asylum seekers or refugees in a delicate situation that can expose them to exploitation despite the prominence and support of the UN high Commission for Refugees.On that note, the first circumstance has to do with the “well founded fear of being persecuted” as framed in Article 1A2 of the 1951 Convention on the status of Refugees. In this instance the applicant’s personality will be assessed to understand the credibility of their claim.

This will entail getting key details of the applicant’s family background, membership of a racial, political and social group and his own personal experience to understand if the predominant motive for his application is fear as well as examining his statement in the context of the background situation and his country of origin.On the definition of persecution, inference on what it means vary by context of victimized individuals, say threat to life, discrimination or even prosecution with targeted laws on account of race, religion, nationality or political membership serves as persecution under International Refugee Law.Secondly, “for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion”, in this aspect, the convention is clear.

The court in SZLWE v MIAC (The Administrative Appeal Tribunal, Refugee Grounds and Nexus, May 2022) commented that the harm feared by a person fleeing persecution need not be solely attributable to the reason behind it, but it must be sufficiently attributable to one of the above grounds mentioned.I. Race: discrimination on racial grounds here amounts to persecution under international refugee law if their dignity is affected to an extreme extent.II. Religion: a common example is that of the members of the Shiite Muslims whom have faced serious crackdown and abuse from the Nigerian government as a matter of right have a reasonable claim of asylum should they demand for it on application. (Human Rights Watch 2019 ‘Court Bans Shia Group’)III. NationalityIV. Membership of a particular social group: The Infamous Bisi Alimi of Nigeria is a primary example. Alimi was granted asylum in London and given Refugee status after being disowned by his family, faced abuse and violence that jeopardized his safety as a result of his sexual preference. (Mary Grace Lewis, Advocate.com 2018) V. Political Opinion: here the applicant may hold that opinion or have expressed it and it has come to the attention of the authorities.

DJ Switch is a primary example. Switch famously livestreamed the shooting of unarmed protesters at the lekki Toll Gate during the October 2020 #ENDSARS demonstration were the Nigerian Army were indicted as the perpetrators. After receiving death threats, she was forced to flee the country to Canada and applied for Asylum. (BBC News Pidgin, DJ Switch, 2020)Thus, the circumstances that enables one to asylum as listed and cited with examples varies, but it is key to understand that vulnerability of anyone is no excuse to deny basic human rights protection by national governments irregardless of the animosity, complicity or circumstances that predicated a citizen’s exit from their original country.

The gratitude we owe international Refugee law is not devoid of that which we owe on human rights law because it is the human person that is generally recognized first. Understanding the law that protect that individual from circumstances that caused them to flee their country of origin is a critical approach to reconciling refugee law with human rights law without any prejudice to the human person.Arthur Amadi is an Associate at Gredan Legal. His areas of interest include Public Interest, Human Rights and the Protection of Vulnerable and Marginalized Groups.