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Refugees include individuals recognized under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, the refugee definition contained in the 1984 Cartagena Declaration on Refugees as incorporated into national laws, those recognized in accordance with the UNHCR Statute, individuals granted complementary forms of protection, and those enjoying temporary protection. The refugee population also includes people in refugee-like situations.
People in refugee-like situation refers to a category which is descriptive in nature and includes groups of people who are outside their country or territory of origin and who face protection risks similar to those of refugees, but for whom refugee status has, for practical or other reasons, not been ascertained.
Refugees are migrants who fled their countries of origin to escape persecution or danger and have found asylum in another country. Over time, Canada has been the landing ground for many migrants seeking refuge from all over the world. However, discriminatory immigration policies have also prevented some asylum seekers in need of protection from entering Canada
A more controversial group of refugees were the American war resisters. Also known as "draft evaders", these people fled across the border to escape mandatory service in the Vietnam War. Though some returned home after the war, many took up new lives in Canada. Equally controversial were the Chilean and other Latin American refugees forced out of Chile. These refugees had been forced to flee due to Augusto Pinochet's overthrow of Salvador Allende's Marxist government in 1973. However, the Canadian government did not want to alienate the American or new Chilean administrations. As such, Canada restricted the numbers of permitted entries, only resettling around 7,000 Chileans during the 30-year conflict.