I met a "refugee" yesterday

- at least that is what he claims to be.
I seriously doubt his status for a number of reasons and so does the person who introduced me - a person who is a very experienced and able counsellor for refugees. She has accepted the claims of people I would sometimes have been wary of and if she has doubts there are good reasons for it. Two of her colleagues have doubts too.
I was introduced to the claimant for several reasons, some of which I cannot divulge here  but I was asked to do something. I did it. He failed the test set and a formal decision will be made about his future today.
He has supporters of course, one of them a "refugee advocate" who may well fight hard to keep him here. 
      "You don't understand!" is what the counsellor and her colleagues will be told, "You are making a mistake! Of course he's a refugee! Why else would he come here and claim asylum?"
 There is a natural tendency to believe anyone who claims to be a refugee. More than one aid worker has told me that they have been asked about the story someone should tell in order to be able to go to another, more desirable, country.  Some of those asking would have every right to seek asylum elsewhere and are simply advised to tell the truth. There's no need to embellish the story. It is often too horrific as it is.
But there are others claiming refugee status who are not refugees. For them story telling is seen as a way of migrating. They may be fleeing poverty but they are not fleeing persecution. They are not in fear of their lives. They simply want a better life somewhere else. I sympathise - but it does not make them refugees. There are far too many refugees in the world as it is, people who can't go home even though they would like that more than anything else. Homesickness is a dreadful state to be in - and for some people it has lasted  years and  years. 
Many refugees also cling to their culture, cling to it in the hope they will one day be able to go "home". They do it even while they seem to embrace the culture of the country which has welcomed them. They want their children to know the language and the traditions of the country they have come from. I understand that too.
The "refugee" I spoke to  yesterday has been refusing to speak the language of the area he claims to have come from. He claims not to be able to read although schooling is compulsory for boys and he can read a little English. He couldn't draw a map of his "village". Although one building is of great significance to the people who live there he wouldn't acknowledge photographs of  it. There are many other things which suggest he is not the person he claims to be.
We all know what is going to happen next. The "refugee advocate" will take his case up and fight to keep him here. It will take hours and hours of time and far too much money. He will most likely end up in detention but it won't necessarily be immediately.  Other families in desperate need of a safe place will have to wait even longer.
And the fatherless family who claim to know him will be living in fear of him.