Most countries do not accept refugees from their political allies, it's true. However, there is a kind of work-around in place in many places—please excuse my brain dump but this is something that more people need to know about. To have refugee status approved, you usually need to have your claim addressed in a court of some sort, depending on where you're claiming asylum. When a refugee resettlement agency knows that a claimant didn't come from one of their jurisdiction's designated "refugee generating" countries, but that situation is likely to change, they may schedule the court date for several 🎉years🎉 in the future. Of course, this can also happen because the system is overwhelmed and there's a backlog. Either way, it's not necessarily a bad thing to have a very distant court date.

In many of the more civilized nations, once you've got an asylum claim court date scheduled, you enter a special protected class where you get access to state programs such as public schools and healthcare and are allowed to work legally, find housing etc, at least up to that court date.

This can create bureaucratic headaches. But it can also supply a few years of necessary safety during periods when the originating country's political situation is most... dynamic. By the time the court date actually rolls around, the politics may have clarified themselves.

@phl @swaldman @alice