RED TAPE, LONG WAITS FILL PROCESS

"I think being a refugee means coming from another country. You lost your home, you don't have it anymore," said Ajmal Ayubzai, 15, an Afghan refugee.

This is the turn Ajmal's life has taken, and it fits the United Nations' criteria for determining refugee status. Since 1951, the U.N. has defined a refugee as: "A person seeking to leave a country based on a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion."

The United Nations created this definition, which is a part of the Geneva Convention, to outline refugees' rights.

Ajmal's family fled after being told the Taliban had killed his father. He, his five siblings and his mother traveled to Pakistan and applied for refugee status. While they waited, they built a tent and lived there a year before they were approved to go to Lincoln, Neb.

The Geneva Convention covers many reasons for being a refugee; it does not, however, address civilians fleeing conflict. Those ousted from their homes by civil war are not guaranteed permanent asylum; they receive provisional refugee status with the understanding they will return home when peace is restored.

Fitim Hajritaj, 21, lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. Three years ago, his family felt they could not return home to Kosovo because the area had become unstable. The Hajritajs are ethnic Albanians, a group targeted by death squads.

Fitim and his family fled to Albania and applied to for refugee status. They stayed in temporary housing for four months until they were allowed to go to Vancouver.

While Fitim did not go to a refugee camp after he fled his homeland, many refugees do. The camps, under the supervision of the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, offer shelter, safety, food and assistance.

According to the UNHCR, applicants at the camps are interviewed individually to determine eligibility for refugee status. In the case of a mass exodus during civil war, such as in Kosovo and Somalia, group interviews are conducted to speed the process.

Refugees are assigned a country by the UNHCR and usually can't choose where they are resettled. But they can request a country in which relatives reside.

Once a country has been selected, officials from that country interview the refugee. If accepted, the country arranges for transportation. If the refugee is rejected, UNHCR tries to find another suitable country.

The Geneva Convention governs the 191 countries in the United Nations. Only nine members, including the United States and Canada, have refugee quotas. In the United States, the 2001 quota was 80,000, with 68,000 refugees accepted. The 2002 quota is 70,000; it was decreased after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Asylum seekers differ from refugees in that they have already reached the United States or a U.S. port of entry. Like refugees, they must prove a well-founded fear of persecution at home.

The U.S. accepts about 1 percent of the world's refugees. The U.S. agency responsible for interviewing refugee applicants is the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Once an individual is categorized as a refugee, the U.S. Department of State, the International Organization for Migration and the INS bring him or her to the United States. Most refugees are issued interest-free travel loans, which must be repaid in three years.

Refugees in the United States often are sponsored by community organizations, such as Lutheran Family Services in Lincoln. Refugees pay taxes but cannot vote. After living here for a year, a refugee is eligible to become a permanent resident and receive a green card. After five years of residency, they can apply for citizenship.

In Canada, Citizenship and Immigration Canada settles refugee claims, but unlike in the United States, some claimants enter the country before obtaining refugee status, according to Immigrant Services Society of British Columbia.

Ajmal is pleased with the education he receives in Lincoln. He has another reason to be happy: His father is alive. "Last year, he called us. He said that he is not dead; it was someone else."

ASSISTANT EDITORS: Drew Reissaus, 18; David Maus, 17; and Melissa Tuckman, 16. REPORTERS: Zach Tuchman, 14; and Andrea Phillips, 14.