Refugee, IDP, Evacuee — Words That Don’t Mean the Same Thing

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, there have been more occasions to write and talk about people who fled Ukraine, people who were forced from their homes within the country, and people who came to Japan. In Japanese, the word “refugee” (難民) is the most familiar, and other terms tend to get pulled toward it. But “refugee,” “internally displaced person,” “temporary protection,” and “evacuee” are terms used by different systems, each with its own definition. The treaties behind them differ, and so do the bodies that decide who qualifies. Mixing them up describes a real person’s status in a way that does not match the facts.

One thing first: this article is meant to help you understand the meaning of these terms. It is not advice on any individual’s immigration procedure. For decisions about a procedure, please check with the Immigration Services Agency of Japan or a qualified lawyer or administrative scrivener (gyoseishoshi).

Refugee — defined by treaty, recognized by a state

“Refugee” is a term defined by the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (the Refugee Convention). The English text collected in the United Nations Treaty Series sets out the definition in Article 1 A(2) as follows.

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 and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country

Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, Article 1 A (2) (the opening phrase, “As a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951,” is omitted here)

The Refugee Assistance Headquarters (a program of the Foundation for the Welfare and Education of the Asian People) explains this in Japanese as, roughly, “a person outside the country of their nationality owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted.” The key requirement is being outside the country of one’s nationality — crossing a border is a precondition. The time limitation removed by omission above, “as a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951,” was itself removed by Article 1(2) of the 1967 Protocol, which provides that this phrase is to be read as deleted.

In Japan, Article 2, item 3 of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act (ICRRA) defines “refugee” as “a refugee to whom the Refugee Convention applies under the provisions of Article 1 of the Refugee Convention or Article 1 of the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees,” and Article 61-2, paragraph 1 provides that the Minister of Justice recognizes refugee status based on an application. In Japan, “a person recognized as a refugee” means someone who has gone through this procedure.

Internally Displaced Person (IDP) — has not crossed a border

Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are described as follows in the 1998 UN document, the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.

internally displaced persons are persons or groups of persons who have been forced or obliged to flee or to leave their homes or places of habitual residence (…) and who have not crossed an internationally recognized State border.

Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, Introduction 2 (UN document E/CN.4/1998/53/Add.2, 1998)

The closing phrase, “have not crossed an internationally recognized State border,” is the decisive difference from a refugee. Even where the circumstances forcing someone from their home are the same, if they have not crossed a border, they do not fall within the Refugee Convention’s definition. The Guiding Principles are also not a treaty; Introduction paragraph 3 positions them as “reflect[ing] and [being] consistent with international human rights law and international humanitarian law.” It is not a status a state “recognizes.”

So writing that a person forced from their home within Ukraine, now living elsewhere in the country, is a “refugee,” is factually wrong.

The scale of this population is also counted separately from refugees. Recital (9) of EU Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1912 cites an estimate by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that “as of December 2025, 3,712,000 people were displaced within Ukraine,” with 71% displaced for more than two years and 82% for more than one year. This is an EU decision citing an IOM estimate; we have not consulted IOM’s own primary source. Whenever you use a figure like this, always attach whose estimate it is, and as of when.

Temporary Protection — a separate framework from refugee recognition

The “temporary protection” the EU activated in 2022 is also a separate system from refugee recognition. Its legal basis, the 2001 Council Directive 2001/55/EC, defines it in Article 2(a) as follows.

"temporary protection" means a procedure of exceptional character to provide, in the event of a mass influx (…) of displaced persons from third countries who are unable to return to their country of origin, immediate and temporary protection to such persons

Council Directive 2001/55/EC, Article 2(a) (Official Journal of the EU, OJ L 212, 7 August 2001)

This mechanism was activated by Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/382 of 4 March 2022. That decision finds, in Article 1, “the existence of a mass influx into the Union of displaced persons who have had to leave Ukraine,” and in Article 2(1) defines as its scope Ukrainian nationals residing in Ukraine before 24 February 2022, and stateless persons and third-country nationals who were beneficiaries of international protection or equivalent in Ukraine before that date, who have fled Ukraine as a result of the military invasion by Russian armed forces that began on 24 February 2022, along with their family members.

The period has been extended repeatedly. Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2026/1912 of 30 July 2026 extends this temporary protection by a further year, to 4 March 2028 (under Article 3, the decision applies from 5 March 2027, except that Article 2 alone applies from 31 July 2026). Its Article 2 newly adds a provision that, where the person concerned has military service obligations in Ukraine, the grant of temporary protection is conditional on proof of compliance with those obligations (where applicable). However, this same article does not apply to a person who already held temporary protection in a member state before 30 July 2026 and has continuously held that status in the same member state since then. In other words, someone already receiving temporary protection is not immediately excluded by this condition.

And temporary protection does not prevent someone from applying for asylum. Article 17(1) of the Directive provides that “persons enjoying temporary protection must be able to lodge an application for asylum at any time.” It is wrong to describe a person receiving temporary protection in an EU member state as “having been recognized as a refugee,” but it is also wrong to write that they are “not protected.”

Japan’s “Hinanmin” (Evacuee) — a reception framework, not refugee recognition

In Japan, the term “Ukrainian hinanmin” (ウクライナ避難民, “Ukrainian evacuees”) is used. This is a term used by the Immigration Services Agency of Japan (ISA), which notes in its statistics that the count covers “persons who entered Japan from Ukraine or a third country on or after March 2, 2022, for the purpose of evacuation, owing to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.” According to the ISA, the cumulative total is 2,902, with 1,931 currently residing in Japan (both are preliminary figures as of August 31, 2026, updated by the Agency once a month).

These people are not in Japan because they have been recognized as refugees. The ISA states that it accepts applications to change status of residence to the work-eligible “Designated Activities (1 year)” for Ukrainians who entered on a “Temporary Visitor” status for the purpose of evacuation and wish to continue their stay (as posted on the Agency’s site, confirmed September 22, 2026). “Ukrainian hinanmin” is a term for a reception and counting framework — it is neither the name of a status of residence, nor the result of refugee recognition.

Separately, a system recognizing “persons requiring complementary protection” began on December 1, 2023. The ISA describes this as a system to reliably protect conflict evacuees and others who, while not “refugees” under the Convention, should be protected in the same way as refugees. Article 2, item 3-2 of the ICRRA defines this as a person other than a refugee who meets requirements other than the requirement that the reason for the feared persecution be one of the reasons set out in Article 1 A(2) of the Refugee Convention. Recognition, like refugee recognition, is made by the Minister of Justice, and the Agency states that a person recognized is in principle granted the status of residence “Long-Term Resident.” There were 311 applicants for recognition in 2025 (Reiwa 7), and the Agency states the leading nationality among them was Ukrainian (ISA, announced March 27, 2026).

The immigration status of Ukrainians in Japan is not uniform. It would be wrong to write that “the Ukrainians who came to Japan were recognized as refugees,” and it would also be careless to write that “Japan is not protecting them.”

The everyday word “evacuee,” and a checklist for writers

“Person who has fled,” “person who came from Ukraine,” and “evacuee” are everyday words that describe a person’s situation without carrying any legal status. These are the words you can use when legal status cannot be confirmed. That said, in Japanese “hinanmin” is also the name of the ISA’s counting category, so using it as an everyday word can get it confused with the technical term. Note, too, that “migrant” is a separate term from all of these, and this article does not cover it.

• First ask whether you need to state the status at all. Status of residence is personal information. If you don’t need to write it, you don’t need to ask about it either.
• If you can confirm with the person, ask them. But if they ask you not to write it, don’t.
• Identify which country’s, which system’s, situation you are describing. The term you use changes depending on whether you’re talking about Japan, an EU member state, or inside Ukraine.
• Open the material from the body that governs that system. For status of residence and refugee recognition in Japan, that’s the Immigration Services Agency; for EU temporary protection, the EU’s Official Journal; for treaty definitions, the UN Treaty Series.
• If you can’t confirm it, don’t assert a status — describe the situation, and attach a date. “Came to Japan from Ukraine in 2022, and is still living in Japan” is something you can write using only confirmed facts.

Two Final Points

First: do not let “not a refugee” imply “doesn’t need protection.” A difference in legal status does not represent the scale of the hardship a person faces. The ISA itself explains that Japan’s system for persons requiring complementary protection was built on the premise that there are people who need protection even though they do not fall under the Convention’s definition of refugee.

Second: systems change. The EU’s temporary protection has been extended repeatedly since it was activated, and the July 2026 decision added a new condition. Japan’s system for persons requiring complementary protection only began in December 2023 and does not exist in articles written before that. The content of this article reflects what could be confirmed from each body’s materials as of September 22, 2026. When quoting it, please check whether that is still the case.