Since it is in practice impossible to separate the two it doesn’t make much sense.<p>Basically anyone from a country with an internal conflict or a less than ideal government (this covers most of the world) can become a refuge by claiming they have been persecuted. Even those from countries that don’t meet these very common criteria can still claim to be refugees by destroying their documentation and claiming to be from a conflict zone.<p>Since you don’t need to provide any evidence other than your own word [1], all having two separate categories does is screen out the people who are too stupid (or honest) to make up a plausible story of persecution.<p>1. <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.refworld.org&#x2F;pdfid&#x2F;3ae6b3338.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.refworld.org&#x2F;pdfid&#x2F;3ae6b3338.pdf</a>