What do you think of when you hear the word ‘refugee’?

Refugees are people, just like you or me, whose lives have changed, sometimes in an instant, writes Emma Cherniavsky

A woman touches hands of a child through a fence at a new temporary camp for migrants and refugees, on the Greek island of Lesbos (Reuters)

When you hear the word refugee, what do you think of? I think of my Jewish grandfather who fled the Pale of Settlement in Russia at the age of 10 and spent two decades roaming the world as a travelling musician before finally finding his home with my Canadian grandmother.

Perhaps you think of a family member or friend. Or the Syrian refugees you have seen on the news who have been driven from their homes throughout the past decade of the crisis. Or a sports or pop star like Asmir Begovic or Dua Lipa.

We all have an idea of who a refugee is, but you might not know the history of the word in law.