The social and health dimensions of refugees and complex humanitarian emergencies

The concept of "refugee" and its definition has a complex history and dates back to the eighteenth century. The 1793 French Constitution declared that France would take in people fleeing their homelands in search for freedom (Noiriel, 1991). Similarly, the 1905 British Aliens Act emphasised that an immigrant who sought "admission to avoid prosecution or punishment on religious or political grounds or for an offence of a political character, or persecution, involving danger of imprisonment or danger to life and limb, on account of religious belief would be protected in Britain" (Collyer, 2005, p. 289).