Meekly assures wretched refugees (6,7)
I believe the answer is:
asylum seekers
'refugees' is the definition.
(refugees might be seeking asylum)
'meekly assures wretched' is the wordplay.
'wretched' is an anagram indicator.
'meekly'+'assures'='meeklyassures'
'meeklyassures' with letters rearranged gives 'ASYLUM-SEEKERS'.
(Other definitions for asylum seekers that I've seen before include "Refugees looking for a home" , "modern-day exiles" .)