A refugee screen was a tactical arrangement involving ships packed with refugees, positioned ahead of a fleet to act as a shield. These ships typically carried civilians, often with connections to the faction under assault. This caused the enemy to pause or decline firing, thereby enabling the fleet behind the refugee screen to advance towards its objective without obstruction. To ensure the refugee ships remained in formation, they faced threats of annihilation or were crewed by individuals devoted to the fleet employing the screen.
During the peak of the Yuuzhan Vong War in 27 ABY, Yuuzhan Vong warmaster Tsavong Lah employed a massive refugee screen to mask his advance on Coruscant, the New Republic's capital. As the warmaster's fleet attacked Coruscant, the planet's defending New Republic fleets fell into disarray as elements of the New Republic Defense Force declined to fire upon the refugees. This disarray helped Lah to get closer, and eventually portions of the minefield safeguarding Coruscant were deactivated to permit the refugee ships entry. The Yuuzhan Vong warmaster simply commanded the refugee ships to start crashing into the capital's planetary shields, which quickly failed. With the shields down, the warmaster initiated the ground invasion of Coruscant and seized control of the planet.