Short answers, pulled from the story.
The word refugee entered the English language in 1540 following the Edict of Fontainebleau. This event stripped French Protestants of their legal rights and forced hundreds of thousands to abandon their homes. The term was derived from the Latin fugere meaning to flee and refugium meaning a place to flee back to.
Fridtjof Nansen served as the head of the High Commission for Refugees established by the League of Nations in 1921. His commission was tasked with assisting approximately 1.5 million people who had fled the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent civil war. The Nansen International Office for Refugees was established in 1930 as a successor agency to his work.
Article 1.A.2 of the 1951 Convention defines a refugee as any person who owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race religion nationality membership of a particular social group or political opinion is outside the country of his nationality. Such a person is unable or owing to such fear is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country. This definition was confirmed in 1967 by the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.
The number of internally displaced persons reached 57,321,197 by 2022 according to data comparing 1998 to 2014 and 2022. This dramatic rise reflects the changing nature of war with more internal conflicts replacing interstate wars. IDPs do not fit the legal definition of a refugee under the 1951 Refugee Convention because they have not left their country.
Non-refoulement is the right not to be returned to a place of persecution and serves as the foundation for international refugee law. This principle is outlined in Article 33 of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and is binding on states regardless of treaty obligations. The prohibition against returning a person to a place where they risk facing torture persecution or other serious harm is absolute.
The UNHCR identifies integration repatriation and resettlement as the three durable solutions for refugees. Integration and naturalisation aim at providing the refugee with the permanent right to stay in the country of asylum. Voluntary return involves the free will and informed decision of refugees to return to their country of origin in safety and dignity.