What is the difference between a migrant and a person in need of international protection?

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4What is the dierence

between a migrant

and a person in need

of international

protection?

“Migrant” is a wide-ranging term that covers persons

who leave one country or region to settle in another.

Some migrants voluntarily decide to move for a

variety of reasons, most of them for reasons that

are not protection-related, for instance because of

family ties or due to economic hardship. Persons in

need of international protection, however, are

forced to f‌lee to save their lives or preserve their

freedom. They have no protection in their country of

origin; in fact it is often their own government that

is threatening to persecute them. If other countries

do not let them in, and do not oer protection, they

may be leaving them exposed to death, persecution

or other serious human rights violations.

Modern migratory patterns are often mixed.

Within mixed migration f‌lows, those who are

in need of protection and those whose reasons

are not protection-related travel alongside each

other, making use of the same routes and means

of transpor t. Such journeys may be long, hard and

dangerous, often organised in an irregular manner.

Identifying those who may wish to apply for

international protection under those circumstances

is a challenging but extremely important task.