ABSTRACT
The aim of this chapter is to give an outline of social work with refugees and asylum seekers in France. This is a major transnational societal issue which, sadly, is not only the case at the present time of writing but will be in the future: according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), displacement is the new challenge for the twenty-fi rst century (UNHCR 2013). In Europe, the three top countries receiving refugees in 2013 were Turkey (609,900 persons), France (232,500 persons) and Germany (187,600 persons) (UNHCR 2014: 13). Persons who fl ee their country and seek protection from another state through the application of an asylum claim are named asylum seekers: ‘individuals who have sought international protection and whose claims for refugee status have not yet been determined’ (UNHCR 2014: 39). If they fulfi l specifi c conditions, they can obtain the status of refugee; refugees are defi ned by the UNHCR as ‘individuals recognized under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees … ; individuals granted complementary forms of protection … and those enjoying temporary protection’ (UNHCR 2014: 39). These legal defi nitions are important because they set the frame of the social workers’ agency with this group.
