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ROSEANNE PEREIRA: Ask the question what is a refugee, and there are a multitude of answers. The word conjures up images of masses of people in refugee camps. But Amano Dube points out that all those people came from somewhere else. Each has a unique story and set of skills. Dube says that while some refugees never had the opportunity to receive an education, others are well educated, were doctors, journalists, teachers in their home countries.

AMANO DUBE: So a lot of professionals are out there who drive taxi cabs in the States and who do just like preliminary level jobs just to make a living.

ROSEANNE PEREIRA: Dube is the self-sufficiency program coordinator at Brian Coyle Community Center. He was once an asylum seeker himself, fleeing Ethiopia because of political persecution. Dube has to work to convince employers to hire people who come in as refugees and to see them as individuals. He sees today's events as another opportunity to spread the word to all Minnesotans.

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World Refugee Day in the Twin Cities is a day of celebration, with dancers from Laos, food vendors from Ghana, and singers from Ethiopia. But it's also a day of raising awareness, to clear up confusion about terms such as refugee and asylum seeker. Emily Goode is a staff attorney in the refugee and immigration program at Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights. She says refugee determination is made outside the US. But if you haven't already been identified as a refugee by the time you reach the United States, you're an asylum seeker. Other than that, the two groups' reasons for coming to the United States are similar.

EMILY GOODE: Both asylees and refugees come out of the same definition. And it's a person who is outside their country of origin and who is seeking refuge because they've been persecuted and their government can't protect them.

ROSEANNE PEREIRA: To gain asylum in the United States hinges on proving justified fear due to persecution based on race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Goode says because of Minnesota's strong resettlement history, the state is currently only resettling refugees who already have family members in the area. That's why Somalis and Ethiopians top the list of Minnesota's recent arrivals. Goode also points out something else that sets refugees apart from other immigrants.

EMILY GOODE: Almost never is an asylee motivated by economic reasons. What I hear more often from people is it's about freedom.

ROSEANNE PEREIRA: American Refugee Committee president Hugh Palmer travels around the world working on relief issues. He sees another part of the refugee definition.

HUGH PALMER: The first thing I think everybody needs to understand is that I'd say about 95% of them have only one desire. And that's to go home, not to go to some third country like the United States.

ROSEANNE PEREIRA: But they're often not able to go home because of the conflict that drove them away in the first place. And so they start a new life in a new country. For Palmer, World Refugee Day is a way for Minnesotans to connect with the rest of the world.

HUGH PALMER: People should care about World Refugee Day because it's an opportunity to learn about the plight of 37 million people who've been driven out of their homes, and often with nothing but the clothes on their back, and are having to survive. And why should we care about that? Because I think the American people are basically a humane, and kind, and decent people who, when they recognize there are people with, these kind of problems generally are stimulated to want to do something about it.

ROSEANNE PEREIRA: For Palmer, that means becoming informed about refugee situations around the world. But it could also mean getting to know people in the community who are refugees or attending World Refugee Day cultural events. These will take place today, starting at 2:00 PM at Brian Coyle Community Center, in Curry park, in Minneapolis. I'm Roseanne Pereira, Minnesota Public Radio News.

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