refugee, noun

[Be Brave]

a person who has escaped from their own country for political, religious or economic reasons or because of a war
(from Cambridge online dictionary);

one that flees; especially : a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution
(from Merriam-Webster online dictionary)

Earth to news reporters: STOP USING THE WORD REFUGEE! NOW!

[Maple]

1. Refugee

a person fleeing, and seeking refuge.

And what you have here are American refugees.

[aquart]

2. I've been convinced. Evacuee it is.

I preferred refugee to "homeless" because there was a deadly irony to being a refugee in one's own nation. And because "homeless" struck me as another insult. But the arguments against refugee have convinced me. These are OUR CITIZENS. Not strangers.

[Spider Jerusalem]

3. Here's what the OED says:

(note 1. d, "displaced person")
Also 7–8 refugie.
1. a. One who, owing to religious persecution or political troubles, seeks refuge in a foreign country; orig. applied to the French Huguenots who came to England after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685.

b. A runaway; a fugitive from justice, etc. rare.

†c. transf. of migratory birds. Obs. rare—1.

d. Someone driven from his home by war or the fear of attack or persecution; a displaced person. Also fig.

[Maple]

4. Perhaps some wishful thinking on here?

Main Entry: ref·u·gee
Pronunciation: "re-fyu-'jE, 're-fyu-"
Function: noun

Etymology: French réfugié, past participle of (se) réfugier to take refuge, from Latin refugium

: one that flees;

especially : a person who flees to a foreign country or power to escape danger or persecution
- ref·u·gee·ism /-"i-z&m/ noun

Merriam-Webster

[idiosyncratic]

5. Evacuee was used during fires in San Diego. Why "refugee" now?

The only difference I can see is that most of the evacuees from the fires that destroyed more than 3,000 homes were white . . . :(

[Taxloss]

6. The Oxford Concise English Dictionary says:

"A person taking refuge, esp. in a foreign country"

I don't see why people here are so opposed to the term; these people are seeking refuge, ergo ...

[Be Brave]

7. Even the affected people are emphasizing that they are US citizens,

not refugees. It speaks to the historical and widely-known application of the term "refugee". If those people are offended by the word usage, why should I insist on using it? If the African-American leaders are offended by the word usage, why should I insist on using it?

[Taxloss]

9. I'm not insisting you use it.

I don't have any problems with "displaced person" or "evacuee" or whatever. I just don't see the problem with "refugee". If you're offended by it, don't use it.

[Be Brave]

10. I wasn't talking about my usage of it. I was talking about the media.

Try to understand the post first.

[Taxloss]

13. "why should I insist on using it?"

Thanks for the snark. I've read that last part over and over and I still can't "understand" how "I" means "the media".

[Be Brave]

23. Ummmmm, it will probably take a long time to explain. So just forget

I said anything in that post.

[Taxloss]

25. I think you could have explained it twice in the time you've spent

snarking at people who disagree with you.

[HEyHEY]

19. Think you're better than refugees in Africa/Asia or something?

They're citizens too

[Tyranny_R_US]

11. Geee Taxloss I didnt know New Orleans was a foreign country

[Taxloss]

16. Refugees don't have to be from a foreign country, as the defintion says,

and as I said to the other poster I have no trouble with the terms evacuee or displaced person, or whatever, I just don't see the problem with the term refugee.

Edited to replace stray semicolons with apostrophes

[HEyHEY]

18. Yeah, take note, it says "Especially" Not "Exclusively"

[Maple]

8. You'll have refugee camps

not evacuee camps. Watch.

[HEyHEY]

12. "OR TO ESCAPE DANGER" "Especially"

AS in "especially" not ruling out internal refugees

They are refugees, admit it - your nation has a refugee problem on its hands. It's nothing to be ashamed of... it's somethign to deal with.

[Be Brave]

14. Tell that to those directly affected. n/t

[HEyHEY]

15. WellI wouldn't walk up to a Sudanese guy in Somalia and point

And say "You're a refugee" either, would I?

[Be Brave]

22. No, I suspect you wouldn't. n/t

[Taxloss]

24. Or a Sudanese guy in Sudan, for that matter.

Considering the fact that there are many thousands of Sudanese refugees in Sudan.

[DistressedAmerican]

17. STOP WASTING TIME ON BULLSHIT SEMANTICS! PEOPLE ARE DYING!

The people we are talking about are the lucky ones. Refugees or whatever the hell you want to call them!

STOP WASTING THE TIME ON THIS FUCKING BULLSHIT ARGUMENT!!!

JESUS! DON'T YOU HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO THINK ABOUT?

How about you find some relevant info that could help someone and post that instead of rehashing the same fucking pointless semantic debate.!

[Be Brave]

21. Well, apparently, YOU found some TIME to bash people like me. n/t

[blonndee]

20. "Refugees" might actually be a useful term, now that I think about it.

ONLY for the logical, compassionate-minded, though. For US, it causes an outrage that we would have REFUGEES in our own gddamned country, who are our own fellow citizens....

BUT! For the kool-aid drinkers, I still think this term has disconnecting effects that further "differentiates" between THEM and these "others."

It's a tough call.