Over 65 million people worldwide have been forced to flee their homes as a result of poverty, inequality, violent conflict, and climate change—including over 21 million refugees, 3 million asylum-seekers and over 40 million internally displaced people.

Meb Keflezighi, a refugee who came to the US from Eritrea in Africa in 1987, joined Yahoo Finance at the Concordia Summit to talk about the refugee crisis.

“Refugees and immigrants are people,” he said. “But sometimes you hear the negative aspects about refugees and immigrants … It’s tough to be an immigrant and displaced from your home and finding a new beginning.”

Keflezighi inspired the nation with his 2014 Boston Marathon victory, one year after the finish-line bombing.

“Unless you are a Native American, we are all immigrants,” he said. “The Boston Marathon bombing happened by terrorists. I came back and won the title for us,” he said.

When it comes to refugees, Keflezighi said they should not all be painted with the same brush.

“There are some here and there that you hear—probably like 1 or 2%—that are horrible contributors to society. But there’s 99% that are positive contributors to society. So do we want to focus on the 1% or the 99%?” he said.

Keflezighi added there were many challenges (including learning a new language and being part of a new culture) when he came over to the US—having lived in a village in Eritrea with no electricity where his brothers hid in the bushes so they would not be forced to join the military to fight against Ethiopia. He added he remains grateful to the many who helped him along the way.