10 million-under the united nations convention relating to the status of refugees from 1951, a refugee is a person who (according to the formal definition in article 1a of this convention), owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.
the concept of a refugee was expanded by the conventions 1967 protocol and by regional conventions in africa and latin america to include persons who had fled war or other violence in their home country.
as of december 31, 2005, the largest source countries of refugees are afghanistan, iraq, myanmar, sudan, and the palestinian territories.
