Urges a couple of sweethearts to flee, initially, in order to bring them to safety (8)
I believe the answer is:
refugees
'bring them to safety' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this definition defines the answer.
'urges a couple of sweethearts to flee initially in order' is the wordplay.
'a couple of sweethearts' can mean two replacements for 'sweetheart'.
'sweetheart' becomes 'e' (the heart/centre of 'sweet').
'sweetheart' becomes 'e' (the heart/centre of 'sweet').
'to' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'initially' says to take the initial letters.
'in order' is an anagram indicator (the letters in a new order).
The first letter of 'flee' is 'f'.
'urges'+'e'+'e'+'f'='urgeseef'
'urgeseef' is an anagram of 'REFUGEES'.
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for refugees that I've seen before include "They leave their countries to escape danger" , "Exiles who flee for safety" , "They're forced to flee their country" .)