The article titled “1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees” defines the concept of the 1951 convention. According to the article, a refugee is defined as a person who is unable to return to their country of origin because they fear being prosecuted for reasons out of their control such as race, ethnicity, religion and political affiliation.
The article gives a clarification about the 1951 convention. The convention states that refugees will not be targeted because of race, sex, religion, political affiliation or disability. The refugee convention was administered in 1950 to handle millions of people displaced in the aftermath of world war II.
After reading the article, I watched the short clip titled “Words Matter” by Define America. The video bashed the media for portraying the image that undocumented immigrants are illegal. It was noted in the video that this is not a crime but in fact a civil offence. A fact sheet was also provided which is an excellent tool for educating people that overstaying on a visa, or being an illegal immigrant is not a crime but a civil offence.
After reading the article titled “Justice Department: ’Use Illegal Aliens’, Not Undocumented” written by Tal Kopan and published by CNN, talks about the justice department instructing officers to use the term “illegal aliens” instead of undocumented immigrants”. Illegal immigrants gives the perception that the individual committed a criminal offence whereby undocumented gives the perception that the individual does not have the legal paperwork necessary to live and work in the country. I cannot recall any instances where migrant were called refugees in media or government rhetoric. I think that the DOJ encouraged the use of the words because from their perspective not having legal documents to live and work, makes a person “illegal”.
Grade 3.5/5