Why Is There a Refugee Olympic Team?: Dara Lind

explains how being a refugee is changing:

The Refugee Olympic Team (or #TeamRefugee) is the first time refugees have been represented at the Olympic Games.

And by representing the 19 million refugees and asylum seekers displaced around the world, the team is an inspiring symbol of internationalism. Its 10 team members, who have been displaced from five countries to five other countries, embody tremendous fortitude, discipline, and courage.

But the Refugee Olympic Team is also a symbol of the failure of the international community. In 2012, the year of the last Summer Olympics in London, there were only 11 million global refugees. Four years later, that number has increased by nearly three-quarters — both because of new and worsening crises and because, more than ever, longtime refugees are unable to go home.

more (including some powerful personal stories about the team members)