A year in ghetto's refuge (6)
I believe the answer is:
asylum
'refuge' is the definition.
('asylum' can be a synonym of 'refuge')
'a year in ghetto's' is the wordplay.
'year' becomes 'y'.
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'ghetto' becomes 'slum' (I've seen this before).
'y' inserted into 'slum' is 'sylum'.
'a'+'sylum'='ASYLUM'
(Other definitions for asylum that I've seen before include "Sanctuary or institution for mentally ill" , "Place of safety or protection" , "find sanctuary there" , "Place of shelter or refuge" , "Protection given to political refugee" .)