WUNRN
REFUGEE WOMEN & GIRLS
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UNHCR - THE UN REFUGEE AGENCY
Direct Link to Report:
2007 Global
Trends: Refugees, Asylum-seekers, Returnees, Internally Displaced and Stateless
Persons [June 2008, pdf,
21pp., 712Kb]
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Tuesday, 17 June 2008 -- A new global survey says there were
11.4 million refugees outside their countries and 26 million others displaced
internally by conflict or persecution at the end of 2007, contributing to an
unprecedented number of uprooted people under the care of the UN refugee
agency.
"After a five-year decline in the number of refugees between 2001 and
2005, we have now seen two years of increases, and that's a concern," UN
High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said in London as he kicked off
a week of activities to mark World Refugee Day on June 20. "We are now
faced with a complex mix of global challenges that could threaten even more
forced displacement in the future. They range from multiple new
conflict-related emergencies in world hotspots to bad governance,
climate-induced environmental degradation that increases competition for scarce
resources, and extreme price hikes that have hit the poor the hardest and are
generating instability in many places."
The number of refugees under UNHCR's responsibility rose from 9.9 to 11.4
million by the end of 2007. According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring
Center, the global number of people affected by conflict-induced internal
displacement increased from 24.4 million to 26 million. UNHCR currently
provides protection or assistance directly or indirectly to 13.7 million of
them – up from 12.8 million in 2006. The number of refugees and internally
displaced people under UNHCR's care rose by 2.5 million in 2007, reaching an
unprecedented 25.1 million by year's end. The statistics come from more than
150 countries.
The report also lists other categories of concern to UNHCR, including stateless
people, asylum seekers, returned refugees, returned internally displaced, and
'others.' In all, it lists 31.7 million people entitled to UNHCR support,
excluding 4.6 million Palestinian refugees helped by the UN Relief and Works
Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
UNHCR's annual "Global Trends" report distinguishes between refugees
– those who flee across international borders to escape persecution and conflict
– and internally displaced people (IDPs) who are forced from their homes but
remain uprooted within their own countries. When it began work in 1951, UNHCR's
mandate was limited to finding solutions for the world's refugees. In recent
decades, however, it has also been tasked to work with other UN agencies to
help the growing numbers of conflict-generated internally displaced.
Among refugees, the new report notes that Afghans (around 3 million, mainly in
Pakistan and Iran) and Iraqis (around 2 million, mainly in Syria and Jordan)
accounted for nearly half of all refugees under UNHCR's care worldwide in 2007,
followed by Colombians (552,000) in a refugee-like situation, Sudanese
(523,000) and Somalis (457,000). It says much of the increase in refugees in
2007 was a result of the volatile situation in Iraq. The top refugee-hosting
countries in 2007 included Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Germany and Jordan.
Among the internally displaced, the report cites up to 3 million people in
Colombia ( figure used by Constitutional Court); 2.4 million in Iraq; 1.3
million in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; 1.2 million in Uganda; and 1
million in Somalia. In all, it covers 13.7 million IDPs in 23 countries.
"In Iraq, with the sectarian divide and the lack of a comprehensive
political solution, the number of internally displaced rose from 1.8 million at
the start of the year to close to 2.4 million by the end of 2007," the
report says, adding that other increases or new displacement situations were
also reported in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Chad, Sri Lanka and
Yemen.
Some 647,200 individual applications for asylum or refugee status were
submitted to governments and UNHCR offices in 154 countries last year – a 5
percent increase and the first rise in four years. The report says the increase
can primarily be attributed to the large number of Iraqis seeking asylum in
Europe. By nationality, the individual claims included Iraqis (52,000), Somalis
(46,100), Eritreans (36,000), Colombians (23,200); Russian Federation (21,800);
Ethiopians (21,600) and Zimbabweans (20,700). Top destination countries for
individual asylum seekers were the United States, South Africa, Sweden, France,
the United Kingdom, Canada and Greece. The report expresses concern over widely
varying recognition rates among asylum countries while noting that most
refugees are still hosted in their own regions of origin, not in the
industrialized world.
Despite the increases in refugees and internally displaced people, it wasn't
all bad news.
"UNHCR's goal is to find lasting solutions for refugees," Guterres
said. "Those solutions include voluntary repatriation once conditions in
countries of origin allow; integration in countries of first asylum; or
resettlement to a third country. We can report some progress in all these areas
in 2007, but there's still a long way to go."
Some 731,000 refugees were able to go home under voluntary repatriation
programs in 2007, including to Afghanistan (374,000), Southern Sudan (130,700),
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (60,000), Iraq (45,400) and Liberia
(44,400). In addition, an estimated 2.1 million internally displaced people
went home during the year.
Refugee resettlement referrals to third countries increased substantially in
2007, with UNHCR submitting 99,000 individuals for consideration by governments
– the highest number in 15 years and an 83 percent increase over the previous
year. Even so, less than 1 percent of the world's refugees are resettled by
third countries. By the end of the year, 75,300 refugees were admitted by 14
resettlement countries, including the United States (48,300), Canada (11,200),
Australia (9,600), Sweden (1,800), Norway (1,100) and New Zealand (740). By
nationality, the main beneficiaries of resettlement were refugees from Myanmar,
Burundi, Somalia, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Afghanistan.
The year also saw a decline of some 3 million people who had been considered
stateless, primarily as a result of new legislation in Nepal providing
citizenship to approximately 2.6 million people, as well as changes in
Bangladesh. It is estimated that there are some 12 million stateless people
worldwide, but more data is needed.
The full 2007 Global Trends Report is available on www.unhcr.org/statistics
UNHCR Press release
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The Refugee
Story in Statistics
UNHCR seeks to contribute to informed decision-making and public debate by
providing accurate, relevant and up-to-date statistics. This page provides
data, trends and statistical reports on the "People of concern to
UNHCR": refugees, asylum-seekers, returned refugees, internally displaced
and stateless persons in more than 150 countries.
This page tracks progress toward achieving lasting solutions for refugees, the
scope and nature of protection activities, new outflows, the duration of
refugee situations, camp locations, asylum applications and refugee status
determination (RSD). Detailed information on country of asylum, origin, gender,
age, location and legal status of refugees is available. Indicators on the
quality of refugee protection and UNHCR operations are increasingly being
collected.
UNHCR's Field Information and Coordination Support Section (FICSS) is
responsible for maintaining this page. If you wish to receive free regular
updates about our work or want to unsubscribe, send us an e-mail. If you have
any questions or require further information, please contact us at E-mail
FICSS.
Newly released reports
2007 Global
Trends: Refugees, Asylum-seekers, Returnees, Internally Displaced and Stateless
Persons [June 2008, pdf,
21pp., 712Kb]
Annexes
(Excel tables) and hi-res pdf available for downloading here [zipped format, 4.9Mb]
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