© UNHCR/Shawn Baldwin


MYTH: A migrant is the same as a refugee.


FACT: A migrant is someone who chooses to leave their country, whether for economic reasons or to search for a better life. They can also return to their home country whenever they like. A refugee is someone who is forced to flee their home due to persecution, war, or violence. They can’t return home until it’s safe, something that often doesn’t happen for years, or even decades.


MYTH: Most refugees get resettled.


FACT: If a refugee can’t return home, or stay in the country where they first sought asylum, the hope is that they will be resettled into a third country. This very rarely happens. On average, less than one per cent of refugees are resettled per year. In 2015, for example, that amounted to 0.66 per cent of the 16.1 million refugees under UNHCR’s mandate. Only a small number of countries take part in UNHCR’s resettlement program, with the U.S., Australia, Canada and the Nordic countries providing the most resettlement places.


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