Okuzeka
Social Work vocabulary · Adults and Vulnerable Groups

Refugee

Meaning in social work, with examples

/ˌrefjuˈdʒiː/nounCore term

In social work, refugee means: A person who has fled their country because of war, violence or a well-founded fear of persecution and cannot safely return.

In Turkish: mülteci, sığınmacı

How it is used

In law, a refugee has been recognised under the 1951 Refugee Convention, while an asylum seeker is still waiting for a decision. Social workers support refugees with housing, benefits, school places, trauma and family reunion.

Example sentences

  1. The refugee family arrived with no documents and very little English.

  2. Unaccompanied refugee children are supported by a specialist team.

Common collocations

  • refugee status
  • refugee family
  • unaccompanied refugee children
  • refugee support
  • refugee resettlement
  • vulnerableMore likely than others to be harmed, exploited or left without support because of age, illness, disability, poverty or other circumstances.
  • case managementA way of working in which one worker assesses a person's needs, plans and coordinates the services they receive, and reviews progress over time.
  • social exclusionBeing shut out, fully or partly, from the economic, social and cultural life of society, for example from work, services, housing or community activities.
  • NGOShort for non-governmental organisation: an independent, non-profit organisation that works on social, humanitarian or environmental issues.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Adults and Vulnerable Groups

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