What is asylum?

Asylum is when someone asks to stay in a country because they’re afraid to go back to their own.

Imagine you're playing hide and seek at school, and your friend runs into the teacher’s room to avoid being caught. That’s kind of like asylum, a person hides in another country because they’re scared of what might happen if they return home.

Sometimes people have to leave their homes quickly, maybe because there's a big argument, or they're being chased, or life is really hard. When they get to a new country, they can ask for asylum, which means they want to live there instead of going back.

It’s like when you go to a friend’s house and say, “Can I stay here for a while?” The grown-ups in the country decide if that person can stay. If they say yes, the person becomes a resident and can live there safely.

If someone doesn’t get asylum, they might have to leave again, just like you would if your friend’s parents said you had to go home.