What migrant, refugee and asylum seeker mean:
MIGRANTS are people on the move - typically voluntarily - within their country or to other countries to improve their lives through employment, education, and for family reasons, among others. Not all migrants move voluntarily, of course, and some are forced to leave for economic and other reasons.
Amnesty International says most international migrants live in Europe (72 million), Asia (71 million) and North America (53 million).
UNHCR notes that migrants don't face impediments to returning to their homes - unlike refugees. "Countries deal with migrants under their own immigration laws and processes. Countries deal with refugees through norms of refugee protection and asylum that are defined in both national legislation and international law," UNHCR says.
REFUGEES have been forced to flee their countries in conflict because their own governments can't or won't protect them and they fear for their lives or have suffered rights abuses and persecution.
In a report released in June, UNHCR warned of a "dangerous new era in worldwide displacement" with almost 60 million people forced to flee their homes at the end of 2014. "Worldwide, one in every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum. Were this the population of a country, it would be the world's 24th biggest," it says.
ASYLUM SEEKERS have fled their countries in search of international protection, but their claims have not yet been decided upon. As the UN puts it, "Not every asylum seeker will ultimately be recognised as a refugee, but every refugee was initially an asylum seeker."
Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that everyone has the right to seek asylum from persecution in other countries. The UN Refugee Convention of 1951 stipulates that governments cannot send back refugees to the countries where they are at risk.
