Migrant (EN)

Equivalents

Migrant (CZ) — Migrantin, Migrant — Migrante — Migrant (PL)

Related terms

• (confused with, and hypernym of) refugee and asylum seeker
• emigrant and immigrant (are types of)

Definition

There is no legally recognised definition of a migrant . However, the term is understood to describe a person who is neither a refugee nor asylum seeker but is a person who has a legitimate reason for leaving their country of origin.

Source: https://www.worldvision.org.uk/about/blogs/what-is-a-refugee-and-what-is-a-refugee-crisis/

Encyclopaedic information

In reality, a refugee is an involuntary migrant, a victim of politics, war or natural catastrophe. In the above context, one becomes a refugee migrant, but not every migrant is a refugee.

Source: https://youth4policy.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Uganda-Refugee-Management-Policy.pdf

An economic migrant is a person who voluntarily leaves their home country to live in another country with ostensibly better working or living conditions.

Source: https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/focus/migration-and-refugee-crisis

Collocations

• economic migrant
• refugees and migrants
• asylum seekers and migrants
• migrants with disabilities
• migrant boats

Examples

Border patrols first filter through the asylum-seekers, those with medical problems and economic migrants to ensure that they do not present security concerns.

Source: http://adagiotravel.com/blog/distinguishing-fact-opinion-european-refugee-crisis-affecting-italy/

The Mediterranean has been plagued by shipwrecks in recent months involving migrants trying to reach Europe from Africa and the Middle East.

Source: https://news.yahoo.com/cyprus-launches-rescue-mission-300-refugees-off-coast-101833941.html

Indeed, many forced migrants with disabilities who this researcher encountered during field work articulated their need for rehabilitation and care using the framework and language of disability rights.

Source: https://disabilityglobalsouth.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/dgs-02-01-05.pdf

Note

The term "migrant" is often used as a synonym for "refugee" in less formal/non-normative environments. They are, however, two separate concepts de iure, with "refugee" constituting a specific subtype of "migrant".