Appendix C: Legal definitions of an asylum seeker and a refugee.

The legal definition of an asylum seeker is a person who has applied for protection from persecution under the UN Convention in a country that has signed up to the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees and is awaiting a decision from that country.

The legal definition of a refugee is a person who has been given permission to stay in a country because of a process which began with a claim and/or assessment for protection under the UN Convention

The asylum system sits alongside the two resettlement programmes in the UK (UKRS and ARP), as a route to receiving the right to remain in the UK.  However, those arriving through a resettlement route are given the right to remain in the UK before their arrival, whereas asylum seekers must arrive in the UK before making their claim.