In 1951 the United Nations drew up its Refugee Convention.
Britain has also joined up to this, which means it has responsibility in providing protection for people who have had to flee their country because of persecution.
How asylum seekers and refugees have helped Britain
Fish and chips, that great British tradition, apparently was brought to the UK by 17th-century Jews expelled from Portugal.
Alec Issigonis who fled the war between Turkey and Greece, was the brain behind the cars the Mini and Morris Minor.
Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud (famous psychologists) were refugees.
Case study
"I DON'T WANT TO BE A REFUGEE BUT I WAS GIVEN NO CHOICE"
Read Hakim's story here.
