As we enter the third decade of the new millennium, the categorical distinction between refugees and migrants remains salient, yet problematic. Setting aside the question of its magnitude and causes, the so-called ‘refugee crisis’ unleashed in 2015 disclosed once more the persistent yet convoluted attempts on the part of modern states to determine who qualified as a ‘genuine’ refugee and who was deemed to be an ‘economic migrant’. Furthermore, it raised once more the question what obligations states thereby assumed towards those who sought and were granted asylum. The distinction has become part of the currency of public debate and media usage, as if it were straightforward and incontrovertible. It allows advocates of restricted immigration to claim that they nevertheless adhere to humanitarian principles because they support the rights of refugees who can establish a valid claim to have been persecuted. This short article traces the articulation of that distinction in international political debate and how it was affirmed at key moments in 20th-century European history.

中文翻译：

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难民和经济移民：解开现代欧洲流离失所的关键词和政策后果

当我们进入新千年的第三个十年时，难民和移民之间的分类区别仍然很明显，但也存在问题。撇开其规模和原因问题不谈，2015 年爆发的所谓“难民危机”再次揭示了现代国家在确定谁是“真正的”难民以及谁被视为难民方面持续而复杂的尝试。成为“经济移民”。此外，它再次提出了一个问题，即国家因此对寻求和获得庇护的人承担了哪些义务。这种区别已经成为公共辩论和媒体使用的流行的一部分，就好像它是直截了当的，无可争议的。它允许限制移民的拥护者声称他们仍然坚持人道主义原则，因为他们支持可以证明受到迫害的难民的权利。这篇简短的文章追溯了这一区别在国际政治辩论中的表述，以及它是如何在 20 世纪欧洲历史的关键时刻得到肯定的。