Third country national (TCN) is a term often used in the context of migration, referring to individuals who are in transit and/or applying for visas in countries that are not their country of origin (i.e. country of transit), in order to go to a destination country that is likewise not their country of origin. In the European Union, the term is often used, together with "foreign national" and "non-EU foreign national", to refer to individuals who are neither from the EU country in which they are currently living or staying, nor from other member states of the European Union. In terms of employment, the term is often used to designate "an employee working temporarily in an assignment country, who is neither a national of the assignment country nor of the country in which the corporate headquarters is located." In the US, it is often used to describe individuals of other nationalities hired by a government or government sanctioned contractor who represent neither the contracting government nor the host country or area of operations. This is most often those performing on government contracts in the role of a private military contractor. The term can also be used to describe foreign workers employed by private industry and citizens in a country such as Kuwait in which it is common to outsource work to non-citizens. Refugees According to IRIN, Unlike refugees who are protected by international conventions, third-country nationals (TCNs), who neither belong to the country of refuge or the one they fled, are not covered by any global rights conventions. It is often up to their governments to look after them and arrange for their repatriation. Use of the term in the US Generally speaking, the US government classifies contract personnel under one of three headings: Expatriates - those personnel who are of the same nationality as the contracting government. (In Iraq, foreign nationals working as a member of a US contractor are regarded as expatriates) TCN (third country national) – those personnel of a separate nationality to both the contracting government and the AO or "area of operations". HCNs (host country nationals), LNs (local nationals), Indigs (indigenous personnel) – those personnel who are indigenous to the area of operations. Examples of this hierarchy are as follows: Contract personnel being used by the US government to fight the global war on terror in Iraq consist of Expatriates, namely those personnel of US