Should I use 'as refugees' or 'to become refugees'?

There are people who are forced to leave their homes and cross the border into another country as refugees / to become refugees or to live in an evacuation area in order to avoid these civil wars, natural disasters, and infectious diseases, and to deal with poverty. There were once approximately 1,000,000 refugees in Afghanistan, and there are currently 400,000 or more refugees in Somalia.

Should I use 'as refugees' or "to become refugees"?

Thanks.