Most of those who have left their countries, or are planning to do so, are motivated by a desire for better opportunities. But there are also millions of people who have been forced to migrate for fear of persecution.

At the end of 2002, 10.4 million people around the world had refugee status, according to the UN High Commission for Refugees. A further one million applied for asylum that year or had their applications still pending.(These figures do not include the 4.1 million Palestinian refugees assisted by the UN Relief and Works Agency.)

In 2002, the global number of refugees dropped by about 1.5 million compared to the previous year. This was due mainly to the number of displaced civilians returning home, mostly to Afghanistan. However, Afghans remained the world's largest refugee population.