The majority of them have become internally displaced persons, which means they have fled their homes but are still within their own countries.

およそ6000万人もの人が、戦争や暴動、迫害から逃れるために

Others have crossed a border and sought shelter outside of their own countries.

住み慣れた場所から離れることを余儀なくされています。

They are commonly referred to as refugees.

そのうちの大半は国内避難民となるのですが、

But what exactly does that term mean?

これは自宅を離れて避難したものの、まだ自国内にとどまっている人々の事を指します。

The world has known refugees for millennia, but the modern definition was drafted in the UN's 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees in response to mass persecutions and displacements of the Second World War.

そして残りは国境を超えて祖国を離れ、別の国に避難することを選ぶわけです。

It defines a refugee as someone who is outside their country of nationality, and is unable to return to their home country because of well-founded fears of being persecuted.

こういった人々は一般に難民と呼ばれます。

That persecution may be due to their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion, and is often related to war and violence.

しかし、この言葉の持つ意味は正確にはどういったものなのでしょうか？

Today, roughly half the world's refugees are children, some of them unaccompanied by an adult, a situation that makes them especially vulnerable to child labor or sexual exploitation.

難民という言葉自体は何千年にもわたって使われていますが、

Each refugee's story is different, and many must undergo dangerous journeys with uncertain outcomes.

近代における定義は、国連が難民の社会的地位について協議した

But before we get to what their journeys involve, let's clear one thing up.

1951年の会議において草案が作成されました。

There's a lot of confusion regarding the difference between the terms "migrant" and "refugee."

この会議は、第二次世界大戦に関連した大規模な迫害や避難活動の問題化を受けてのもので、

"Migrants" usually refers to people who leave their country for reasons not related to persecution, such as searching for better economic opportunities or leaving drought-stricken areas in search of better circumstances.

難民の定義として「国籍を所持する国の国外にいて

There are many people around the world who have been displaced because of natural disasters, food insecurities, and other hardships, but international law, rightly or wrongly, only recognizes those fleeing conflict and violence as refugees.

祖国に帰国することが

So what happens when someone flees their country?

事実に基づいた迫害の恐れがあるため不可能な個人」とされています。

Most refugee journeys are long and perilous with limited access to shelter, water, or food.

迫害の理由としては人種、宗教、国籍、もしくは

Since the departure can be sudden and unexpected, belongings might be left behind, and people who are evading conflict often do not have the required documents, like visas, to board airplanes and legally enter other countries.

特定の社会集団に属していたり政治的見解によるものなどがありますが、

Financial and political factors can also prevent them from traveling by standard routes.

どれも戦争や暴動に関連していることがほとんどです。

This means they can usually only travel by land or sea, and may need to entrust their lives to smugglers to help them cross borders.

現在は全世界の難民の半数が子どもたちで、

Whereas some people seek safety with their families, others attempt passage alone and leave their loved ones behind with the hopes of being reunited later.

中には大人の保護下にない子もおり、

This separation can be traumatic and unbearably long.

児童労働や性的搾取の被害に

While more than half the world's refugees are in cities, sometimes the first stop for a person fleeing conflict is a refugee camp, usually run by the United Nations Refugee Agency or local governments.

遭いやすい状況となってしまっています。

Refugee camps are intended to be temporary structures, offering short-term shelter until inhabitants can safely return home, be integrated to the host country, or resettle in another country.

難民はそれぞれが独自の歩みをしており、

But resettlement and long-term integration options are often limited.

そのうちの多くは先行きが不透明な危険な旅を経験しなければなりません。

So many refugees are left with no choice but to remain in camps for years and sometimes even decades.

しかしその点について触れる前に、

Once in a new country, the first legal step for a displaced person is to apply for asylum.

1つはっきりさせておかなければならないことがあります。

At this point, they are an asylum-seeker and not officially recognized as a refugee until the application has been accepted.

よく混同されてしまっているのが

While countries by and large agree on one definition of refugee, every host country is responsible for examining all requests for asylum and deciding whether applicants can be granted the status of refugee.

「移民」と「難民」の2つの言葉なのですが、

Different countries guidelines can vary substantially.

「移民」とは、通常祖国を離れる際に

Host countries have several duties towards people they have recognized as refugees, like the guarantee of a minimum standard of treatment and non-discrimination.

迫害を理由としていないケースの人々を指します。

The most basic obligation towards refugees is non-refoulement, a principle preventing a nation from sending an individual to a country where their life and freedom are threatened.

具体的には、経済的により大きなチャンスを求めたり

In reality, however, refugees are frequently the victims of inconsistent and discriminatory treatment.

干ばつに見舞われている土地を離れて生活環境の良い所を探すためだったりするのです。

They're increasingly obliged to rebuild their lives in the face of xenophobia and racism.

また、自然災害のために避難をしている人々も

And all too often, they aren't permitted to enter the workforce and are fully dependent on humanitarian aid.

世界中に多く存在します。

In addition, far too many refugee children are out of school due to lack of funding for education programs.

他にも食糧難や、

If you go back in your own family history, chances are you will discover that at a certain point, your ancestors were forced from their homes, either escaping a war or fleeing discrimination and persecution.

様々な生活上の苦境も理由として挙げられますが、

It would be good of us to remember their stories when we hear of refugees currently displaced, searching for a new home.

国際法においては、その是非はともかくとして