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A refugee is somebody who fits the definition of a refugee. So somebody who has left their
country who fears being persecuted for one of the five reasons that is in the refugee
convention if they were returned to their country. Now an asylums seeker is somebody
who could be a refugee but whose claim has not yet been considered by a government of
a state party to the refugee convention, or by the UNHCR in Hong Kong. So as soon as somebody
leaves their country of origin and they fear persecution and they fit that definition,
then they are a refugee, whether or not they have actually been told by anybody or any
official process that they are a refugee. But some asylum seekers may not be refugees,
so after their claim is determined and it is determined that they don’t fit the definition,
and they actually don’t fit the definition of a refugee, than their not refugees, and
then they’re no longer asylum seekers either once their claim has been finalized.