system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: What does "political asylum" mean, and how does it work?
gpt
Wikipedia puts it in terms that most people should be able to understand:

Someone may ask for a political asylum when they are frightened to live in their own country. They will then go to another country. If they are allowed to live in the new country this is called political asylum.

People who qualify for asylum are those who can show that they might be badly treated in their own country because of their: Race, Nationality, Religion, Political opinions or Membership of a particular social group or social activities.