Exile

A resourceful young dissident flees England’s murderous, authoritarian regime – and finds himself in a strange country where he doesn’t know the local language or culture, and where no-one speaks his language. Many of the people he meets are friendly and helpful, but (to put it mildly) it’s not all plain sailing…

Whatever the Story Elements say, this is not Present Day - it's Far Future. But if I set the period to Far Future, this gets called Sci Fi, and it's not sci fi at all - only fairly primitive technology, not up to 21st century by a long way; no space travel, nothing like that.