What is the difference between an asylum seeker and a refugee?
An Asylum Seeker is someone who has applied to the Home Office for Refugee Status. A Refugee is someone who has proven to the Home Office he or she has fled his or her country and is unable or unwilling to return because of a well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.(1951 Convention Relation to the Status of Refugees) Refugee status gives indefinite leave to remain to the person. Exceptional Leave to Remain (ELR) new name Humanitarian Grounds is granted to someone who does not fulfil the refugee definition but that the government recognise would be in danger if they were to return to their country at the present time.