A refugee is a person who is outside of their mother land because they have suffer or live in constant fear of persecution on account of their race, religion, nationality, and political opinion. Another reason to leave would be because they are a member of a highly persecuted social group, or because they are fleeing a war. Being a refugee isn’t just about illegally crossing the border or seeking a new home while braving it out in the real world. To help you understand a thing or two, here are 10 facts you need to know about refugees:

Fact 1: 50% of the world’s population of refugees is below the age of 18. Yes, that’s right. More than half of them are children plucked away from home trying to survive and attain a stable life. These children are susceptible to abuse, neglect, starvation, and disease when separated from their families. There are 13 million refugees worldwide today, with the number increasing annually.

Fact 2: Today, there are 3.8 million Syrian refugees currently registered by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Apart from the Syrian refugees, there are 11.6 more out in the world that is identified as “persons of concern”.

Fact 3: A person is called as an asylum seeker when they are looking to be recognized as a refugee but are yet to receive acknowledgement or a formal refugee status. The highest number of asylum seekers is found in Pakistan and Iran. Back in 2013, 1.6 million of the world’s 16.7 million came from Pakistan alone.

Fact 4: The difference between Internationally Displaced People (IDPs) as well as Refugees, you ask? Well, IDPs are those who are forced to abandon their homes as a result of armed conflict, violence in general, or the violation of Human Rights. Whereas Refugees are people who stay outside their country of origin in fear of being prosecuted because of their race, religion, political opinions, or membership within a certain social group or movement.

Fact 5: By 2014 the estimated number of internationally displaced people has grown to 38 million. Syria the highest population with over 7.6 million, followed by Columbia’s 6 million, Iraq’s 3.4 million, Sudan’s 3.1 million, and the Democratic Republic of Congo with roughly 2.8 million refugees.

Fact 6: As for the number of refugees, the United Nations Refugee Agency has recorded over 19.5 million in 2014 alone, 5.1 million being Palestinians, 3.88 million Syrians, 2.5 million hailing from Afghanistan, and 1.1 from Somalia.

Fact 7: Some of your favorite celebrities might have been former refugees and you wouldn’t have known! The list includes singer/songwriter and X Factor judge Rita Ora, transgender fashion model Andreja Peiic, rapper Maya Arulpragasam, Andy Garcia, and significant UK historical figures such as Camille Pisarro, Frank Auerback, Sigmund Freud, and Arthur Koestler.

Fact 8: Stateless people are those who do not possess a legal bond of nationality with any state. This includes people who have never gotten citizenship from their country of birth or those who have lost their citizenship and have no means of claiming citizenship of another state. The children of stateless people often suffer the same fate as their parents, though some are fortunate enough to manage to escape that status.

Fact 9: There are roughly ten million stateless people across the globe. Refugees International aims to reduce the population, mainly the 300,00 denationalized Kurds in Syria, the 93,000 Bidoon in Kuwait, and the 1.2 million undocumented people Haitians living in the Dominican Republic.

Fact 10: In 2015 a boat that was carrying migrants over to the Greek island of Lesbos capsized. The boat which carried Syrian refugees, lost several children due to drowning. The bodies of the deceased washed up on Ali Hoca Point Beach in Bodrum.