I associate refugee with “seeking asylum” and “exile”. It usually has a political connotation.


The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has the following definitions for refugee:
1. Refugees have to be outside their country of origin;
2. The reason for their flight has to be a fear of persecution;
3. The fear of persecution has to be well-founded
4. The persecution has to result from one or more of the 5 grounds listed in the definition, that is race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion;
5. They have to be unwilling or unable to seek the protection of their country.



From time to time I’ve come across a newer form of refugee, the “economic refugee”:
http://mondediplo.com/1999/03/10immig
http://globalenvision.org/library/8/378/

, but if you scroll down the UNHCR’s page, you’ll see that they are not buying that at all!
http://www.unhcr.org.au/basicdef.shtml



The Rev. Jackson seems to be confused about the term.