An asylum seeker is someone who leaves their home country to seek safety in another country.
An asylum seeker is in search of refuge but is not yet legally recognized as a refugee.
Compassion works to love and care for those seeking asylum in the communities we serve.
Asylum Definition: What Is Asylum?
According to Merriam-Webster, “asylum” is protection a government offers to someone who has left another country to escape being harmed. Quick fact: The word “asylum” comes from the Greek word asylon, which means “sanctuary.”
Who Is an Asylum Seeker?
An asylum seeker is someone who flees their home country to seek safety in another. These people have arrived in another country and applied for legal protection and refugee status but are not yet legally recognized as refugees.
Asylum seekers may be fleeing violence, war or persecution for their race, religion, nationality or ethnicity. In most cases, the danger is so great that they risk their lives if they don’t seek safety elsewhere.
Asylum Seeker vs. Refugee vs. Internally Displaced Person (IDP)
The key difference between an asylum seeker and a refugee is that an asylum seeker isn’t yet recognized as a refugee by the host country’s government or an agency like the UNHCR.
Until an asylum seeker is recognized as a refugee, they go without certain rights, like the right to immediately find a job. While refugees can find employment immediately, asylum seekers often face long waiting periods.
An asylum seeker is also different from an internally displaced person (IDP). An IDP is someone forced to flee their home but who stays in their home country. An asylum seeker must flee outside their home country to find safety.
Learn more about the differences between immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers and IDPs.
Challenges Asylum Seekers Face
Lack of Shelter, Medical Care & Other Resources
When a family flees their home, they must leave behind their belongings and livelihoods, taking only what they can carry. While this deprives families of necessities like food and clothing, it also strips them of the resources needed to pay for safe shelter or even medical care during their journey or once they arrive in a host country.
Dangerous Travel
As asylum seekers flee to find safety, many must travel through extreme terrains like hot deserts or dense jungles. They’re susceptible to injury and illness. And along the way, they’re vulnerable to violence, kidnapping and even trafficking.
Limited Employment & Educational Opportunities
Some countries restrict an asylum seeker’s ability to work until a certain time has passed or they become recognized as refugees. Others don’t allow asylum seekers to be formally employed at all.
As for education, children may have difficulties entering school because families left records behind when they fled or can’t show proof of residency. Children moving from one country to another also face language barriers and gaps in their education that make learning a challenge.
Poverty
Leaving their homes, belongings and livelihoods behind, families may find themselves living in extreme poverty almost overnight. Being unable to secure jobs while fighting to afford necessities like shelter and medical care can drive them further into need.
How Compassion Supports Asylum Seekers
Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. — Isaiah 1:17, NIV
At Compassion, we take this mandate seriously, empowering our church partners to defend the oppressed in the countries we serve. And that often includes caring for those seeking asylum.
We serve children and families in countries like Ecuador and Uganda, where many people are seeking safety. In partnership with local churches, we care for their immediate needs, such as safe water and food, while also offering education and vocational training to help them build brighter futures.
Ernesto Finds Refuge & Purpose in Ecuador
Ernesto is a Compassion center director in one of the most impoverished areas of Manta, a major port city on the central coast of Ecuador. But before he was a volunteer working to change lives, he was an asylum seeker hoping to save his own.
“I once dreamed of escaping poverty. Now, as a volunteer, my dream is to help children realize they can overcome it too — because with Jesus, there’s always hope.” — Ernesto
Seeking Refuge
As he grew up in Venezuela, devastating poverty was all Ernesto knew. “There were days,” he recalls, “when food was scarce, and hope felt like a distant dream.”
Beyond poverty, Ernesto was also surrounded by instability. As a young adult, he watched as political, economic and social conditions worsened across Venezuela, leaving many people victims to violence and struggling to get even basic essentials.
Soon, Ernesto felt he had no choice but to leave. He left everything behind, including his work and family, and crossed the border into Ecuador with nothing but faith and determination.
“I didn’t have much, but I had certainty that God was leading me somewhere for a reason.” — Ernesto
Finding Purpose
That reason became clear when Ernesto arrived in Ecuador. There, he not only found refuge and safety but a calling to serve children who, like him, grew up in scarcity but had the potential for so much more.
In Ecuador, Ernesto searched for work, food and a place to sleep, but to no avail. Until one day, he found a local church in Manta with a pastor who showed him compassion. The pastor gave him a small room in the church to sleep in and then hired him to work in the church.
Soon, Ernesto volunteered at the church’s Compassion center. He began by assisting teachers and leading small Bible groups for the children served at the center. Very quickly, those around him could see his compassion for children and his heart for service.
“Ernesto has a heart for children. He listens, he laughs, he prays with them. The kids see him as a father figure and a friend.” — Compassion center tutor
Today, Ernesto serves as the director at the center, overseeing the program that cares for well over 200 children. At the center, children receive nutritious meals, education, medical care and love, all given in the name of Jesus.
“When a child feels loved, they begin to believe that they are valuable. And that’s when transformation starts.” — Ernesto
For Ernesto, volunteering for Compassion was never just about giving time — it was about finding purpose despite the pain of his past. “When I started serving,” he shares, “I realized that God was healing my heart through every child I helped.”
At the core of Ernesto’s journey is his unwavering faith. He often tells the children he serves, “I came to Ecuador with empty hands but with a full heart.” While he didn’t know what his future held, God did.
“I tell the children, ‘If God changed my story, he can change yours too.’” — Ernesto
No longer living in poverty, Ernesto is a living testimony of how God can turn displacement into divine direction, how he can move mountains with just a tiny bit of faith.
Read another inspiring story of hope and refuge: Seeking Refuge: A Refugee in Uganda Finds Hope for Her Family
Through the dedication of those like Ernesto, Compassion serves families seeking asylum around the world. And you can join us by praying for those who need refuge. Today, pray for the millions of children and families seeking asylum. Pray they will be reached with the care and hope they desperately need.