Migration is expanding within and between all regions of the globe during a period of growing worldwide economic distress. There is a rise in racist and xenophobic hostility against refugees and immigrants. This hostility, often expressed in outright violence, is widespread in all regions of the globe. According to United Nations estimates, there are more than 120 million persons living in countries other than their own. This includes refugees, migrant workers, permanent immigrants and others.
Women constitute nearly half of all migrants today.
There is no precise, internationally accepted legal definition of migrant. The category of international migrant is very broad. It is commonly understood to include people who cross borders to reside and work temporarily in other nations and those who emigrate to settle permanently in another country. Distinctions today between refugees, asylum-seekers, migrant workers and other migrants are increasingly blurred. The WCC emphasizes that it believes many of the people crossing borders today are uprooted.