Refugees
Number of forcibly displaced worldwide: 42.5 million
Number of Refugees
There
were 15.2 million refugees
worldwide at the beginning of 2012, 10.4 million under the mandate of UNHCR. The
other 4.8 million Palestinian refugees are registered with the United Nations
Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
Developing countries host four fifths (80%) of the world’s refugees.
In 2011, the country hosting the largest number of refugees remained Pakistan, with 1,702,700 refugees. Afghanistan retained the position as biggest source country with 2,664,400 refugees.
Last year, 46% of refugees were under 18 years old and 48% were female.
Almost three-quarters of the refugee population under the UNHCR mandate are in a protracted situation, that’s 7.1 million people living in 26 different countries.
Internally Displaced
Persons (IDPs)
About
two-thirds
of the world's forcibly uprooted people are displaced within their own country
and are known as internally displaced people (IDPs). 2011 was a year of crises,
resulting in over 26.4
million IDPs worldwide by the end of the year, with
approximately 15.5 million receiving protection and assistance from UNHCR - the
second highest figure on record. In 2011, the countries with the most number of
IDPs were Colombia (3.8 million), Sudan (2.4 million), Democratic Republic of
Congo (1.7 million), Somalia (1.4 million) and Iraq (1.3 million).
Asylum-Seekers
Over
876,100
people submitted applications for asylum in 2011. UNHCR offices registered and
processed 11 per cent of these claims.
South Africa was the world’s largest recipient of individual applications, followed by the United States of America (76,000) and France (52,100). UNHCR advocates fair and efficient procedures for asylum-seekers. Approximately 17,700 asylum applications were lodged by unaccompanied or separated children.
Stateless
People
Statelessness
refers to the condition of an individual who is not considered a national by
any state. Although stateless people may sometimes also be refugees, the two
categories are distinct and both groups are of concern to UNHCR. It’s
almost impossible to determine the true number of stateless people. UNHCR
estimates that statelessness affected up to 12 million people by the beginning of 2012.
However, official data from governments puts the number at 3.5 million stateless
individuals in 64 countries.
In November 2011 to coincide with the 60th Anniversary of the UN Statelessness
Convention, UNHCR and Asylum Aid published a detailed report called Mapping Statelessness
in the UK.
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