With nothing left to eat, families migrate in search of fresh pasture, turning themselves into refugees.
There is also the psychological dislocation of becoming a refugee in other people's eyes and of turning one's friends into refugees.
We have between 20 and 25 percent of our population that is turned into refugees.
So far, wars on the territory of the former Yugoslavia have turned 2.25 million people into refugees or displaced persons.
"They are burning our crops and our trees to turn us into refugees," he said.
For instance, what of those who come as visitors and are turned into refugees, while here, by civil strife at home?
You couldn't see the pilgrims transformed into refugees, moving on with their bundles to pastures new.
Thus began a bloody stalemate that cost two million lives and turned one of every three Afghans into refugees.
Today, we hear of the civilian population being shelled, which has caused over 3,000 deaths and turned 200,000 people into refugees.
In that communal violence, more than 100 people have been killed and scores of thousands turned into refugees.