Asylum seeker in the context of "Refugee"

Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanently move to a country). A migrant emigrates from their old country, and immigrates to their new country. Thus, both emigration and immigration describe migration, but from different countries' perspectives.

Demographers examine push and pull factors for people to be pushed out of one place and attracted to another. There can be a desire to escape negative circumstances such as shortages of land or jobs, or unfair treatment. People can be pulled to the opportunities available elsewhere. Fleeing from oppressive conditions, being a refugee and seeking asylum to get refugee status in a foreign country, may lead to permanent emigration.

Immigration has been a major source of population growth and cultural change in the United States throughout much of its history. As of January 2025, the United States has the largest immigrant population in the world in absolute terms, with 53.3 million foreign-born residents, representing 15.8% of the total U.S. population—both record highs. While the United States represented about 4% of the total global population in 2024, 17% of all international migrants resided in the United States. In March 2025, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) estimated that approximately 18.6 million illegal immigrants resided in the United States. In 2024, immigrants and their U.S.-born children number more than 93 million people, or 28% of the total U.S. population.According to the 2016 Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, the United States admitted a total of 1.18 million legal immigrants (618k new arrivals, 565k status adjustments) in 2016. Of these, 48% were the immediate relatives of United States citizens, 20% were family-sponsored, 13% were refugees or asylum seekers, 12% were employment-based preferences, 4.2% were part of the Diversity Immigrant Visa program, 1.4% were victims of a crime (U1) or their family members were (U2 to U5), and 1.0% who were granted the Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) for Iraqis and Afghans employed by the United States Government. The remaining 0.4% included small numbers from several other categories, including 0.2% who were granted suspension of deportation as an immediate relative of a citizen (Z13); persons admitted under the Nicaraguan and Central American Relief Act; children born after the issuance of a parent's visa; and certain parolees from the former Soviet Union, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam who were denied refugee status.

Between 1921 and 1965 policies such as the National Origins Formula limited immigration and naturalization opportunities for people from areas outside Northwestern Europe. Exclusion laws enacted as early as the 1880s generally prohibited or severely restricted immigration from Asia, and quota laws enacted in the 1920s curtailed Southern and Eastern European immigration. The civil rights movement led to the replacement of these ethnic quotas with per-country limits for family-sponsored and employment-based preference visas. Between 1970 and 2007, the number of first-generation immigrants living in the United States quadrupled from 9.6 million to 38.1 million residents. Census estimates show 45.3 million foreign born residents in the United States as of March 2018 and 45.4 million in September 2021, the lowest three-year increase in decades.

Afghans in Pakistan are migrants from Afghanistan—some of whom are registered in Pakistan as refugees and asylum seekers. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) provides limited protection to them. Many of them were born and raised in Pakistan during the last four decades. Additionally, there are also Special Immigrant Visa applicants awaiting to immigrate to the United States.

The Pakistani government began admitting Afghans after the beginning of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979; by the end of 2001, there were over four million of them on the Pakistani side. While some have returned to Afghanistan many decided to stay in Pakistan.

Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of that country's immigration laws, or the continuous residence in a country without the legal right to do so. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upward, with migrants moving from poorer to richer countries. Illegal residence in another country creates the risk of detention, deportation, and other imposed sanctions.

Asylum seekers denied asylum may face impediment to expulsion if the home country refuses to receive the person or if new asylum evidence emerges after the decision. In some cases, these people are considered illegal aliens. In others, they may receive a temporary residence permit, for example regarding the principle of non-refoulement in the International Refugee Convention. The European Court of Human Rights, referring to the European Convention on Human Rights, has shown in a number of indicative judgments that there are enforcement barriers to expulsion to certain countries, for example, due to the risk of torture.

Afghans in Iran are citizens of Afghanistan who are temporarily residing in Iran as refugees or asylum seekers. They form the largest percent of the Afghan diaspora. The first wave of Afghans crossed into Iran after the start of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979.

According to Afghanistan's Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there were approximately three million Afghan citizens in Iran as of January 2023, most of whom were born and raised in Iran during the last four decades. They are under the care and protection of the UNHCR, and are provided time-limited legal status by Iran's Bureau of Aliens and Foreign Immigrant Affairs, without a path to obtain permanent residency. There are also about 600,000 Afghan tourists, travelers, merchants, exchanged students, regular or irregular migrant workers, and others. According to Hassan Kazemi Qomi, half of Iran's foreign investors are Afghans.

People in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) community in Nigeria face severe challenges. Both male and female expressions of homosexuality are illegal in Nigeria and punishable by death in the northern portion of the country and up to 14 years of imprisonment in the southern portion of the country. There are no legal protections for LGBTQ people in Nigeria—a largely conservative country of more than 230 million people, split between a mainly Muslim north and a mainly Christian south. Very few LGBTQ people are open about their sexuality, as violence against them is frequent. According to PinkNews, Nigerian authorities generally target the LGBTQ community. Many LGBTQ Nigerians seek asylum in countries with progressive laws.

Attempted same-sex marriages have also been criminalised within Nigeria since 2013. The maximum punishment in 12 northern states with Shari'a law is death by stoning. The law applies to all Muslims and those who have voluntarily consented to the jurisdiction of the Shari'a courts. However, in southern Nigeria and under the secular criminal laws of northern Nigeria, the maximum punishment for same-sex sexual activity is 14 years of imprisonment, which is less severe. In 2022, a group of Nigerian human rights organizations and activists filed a lawsuit arguing that Sections 4(1), 5(2), and 5(3) of the Same-Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Act of 2014 violated provisions of the Nigerian Constitution. That same year, the court ruled that these sections were unconstitutional and could not be enforced in any part of the country, effectively allowing LGBTQ+ organizations and individuals to exist and organize freely.