Refugees fleeing war or persecution can be very vulnerable. They have no protection from their own state and it is often their own government that is persecuting them. If other countries do not let them in or protect them, they may be condemned to an intolerable situation where their basic rights, security and even their lives are in danger

There are probably more refugees in the world today than at any other time in modern history. Nearly half of the world's 10 to 13 million refugees are scattered throughout the African continent.