Refugee crisis: Where people are fleeing from and where they are going
, ET Bureau|
Sep 24, 2017, 12.01 AM IST
Last June, the UN Refugee Agency reported that forced displacement worldwide was at its highest in decades — 65.6 million. As the UN General Assembly in New York and the Supreme Court in New Delhi hear arguments on Myanmar’s Rohingya refugee issue, ET Magazine takes a look at the growing global refugee crisis:
WHERE PEOPLE ARE FLEEING FROM AND WHY
SYRIA : With over 5 million people having fl ed the country, Syria remains the largest source country of refugees. The crisis began in 2011, when the Arab Spring inspired similar protests in Syria, which the Syrian Army met with force, throwing the country into a complex civil war.
SOUTH SUDAN : It is estimated that 3.3 million people in South Sudan have been displaced by civil war over four years, with 1.4 million being refugees. The crisis erupted when President Salva Kiir Mayardit accused the vice-president of the newly independent nation of plotting a coup in 2013. Ethnic violence spread across the country after a peace deal collapsed. In 2016, the South Sudanese refugee crisis became the fastest growing in the world.
AFGHANISTAN : One million registered and 1.5 million undocumented Afghan refugees were estimated to be living in Pakistan in early 2016 with another 1 million and 1.5 million, respectively, in Iran. Another million in Afghanistan are estimated to be internally displaced because of internal strife and violence. The first wave of refugees fled with the Soviet invasion in the 1980s while the Taliban takeover in the 1990s caused the second.
WHERE THEY ARE GOING (as of mid-2016)
TURKEY : The country has become the adopted home of close to 3 million refugees, of which 2.9 million came from neighbouring Syria. Around 100,000 are expected to return to Syria by the end of 2017. Some 70,000 have already returned to cleared regions.
PAKISTAN : The country is hosting 1.6 million refugees, according to UNHCR, but the majority of them are Afghans who have been there for over 30 years. Since Pakistan does not offer them citizenship, the children born to the Afghans in Pakistan are also considered refugees.
LEBANON : More than 1 million refugees are registered with the UNHCR offi ce in Beirut but 500,000 more are estimated to be in other parts of the country. Lebanon hosts the largest refugee population per capita in the world.
IRAN : The Islamic Republic of Iran is the fourth largest refugee host, worldwide, with a population of 978,100. This includes 949,900 Afghans and 28,200 Iraqis. This number has remained fairly constant.
UGANDA : Mainly due to the crisis in South Sudan, Uganda saw its refugee population go up from 477,200 at the end of 2015 to 940,800 at the end of 2016. It registered the greatest number of new refugees in 2016, with people also seeking asylum from Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Rwanda.
Quick facts:
* A refugee is someone forced to fl ee their country because of persecution, war or violence
* The number of refugees worldwide increased to 22.5 mn by the end of 2016
* There were 40.3 mn internally displaced people and 2.8 mn asylum seekers
* During 2016, 10.3 mn people were newly displaced by conflict or persecution
* 14.5 mn of the world’s refugees under *UNHCR's mandate are being hosted by developing nations and 4.9 mn by least developed countries
* Total refugees under UNHCR’s mandate are 17.2 m. The global total of 22.5 million include the 5.3 m Palestinian refugees who are registered under UNRWA
WHERE PEOPLE ARE FLEEING FROM AND WHY
SYRIA : With over 5 million people having fl ed the country, Syria remains the largest source country of refugees. The crisis began in 2011, when the Arab Spring inspired similar protests in Syria, which the Syrian Army met with force, throwing the country into a complex civil war.
SOUTH SUDAN : It is estimated that 3.3 million people in South Sudan have been displaced by civil war over four years, with 1.4 million being refugees. The crisis erupted when President Salva Kiir Mayardit accused the vice-president of the newly independent nation of plotting a coup in 2013. Ethnic violence spread across the country after a peace deal collapsed. In 2016, the South Sudanese refugee crisis became the fastest growing in the world.
AFGHANISTAN : One million registered and 1.5 million undocumented Afghan refugees were estimated to be living in Pakistan in early 2016 with another 1 million and 1.5 million, respectively, in Iran. Another million in Afghanistan are estimated to be internally displaced because of internal strife and violence. The first wave of refugees fled with the Soviet invasion in the 1980s while the Taliban takeover in the 1990s caused the second.
WHERE THEY ARE GOING (as of mid-2016)
TURKEY : The country has become the adopted home of close to 3 million refugees, of which 2.9 million came from neighbouring Syria. Around 100,000 are expected to return to Syria by the end of 2017. Some 70,000 have already returned to cleared regions.
PAKISTAN : The country is hosting 1.6 million refugees, according to UNHCR, but the majority of them are Afghans who have been there for over 30 years. Since Pakistan does not offer them citizenship, the children born to the Afghans in Pakistan are also considered refugees.
LEBANON : More than 1 million refugees are registered with the UNHCR offi ce in Beirut but 500,000 more are estimated to be in other parts of the country. Lebanon hosts the largest refugee population per capita in the world.
IRAN : The Islamic Republic of Iran is the fourth largest refugee host, worldwide, with a population of 978,100. This includes 949,900 Afghans and 28,200 Iraqis. This number has remained fairly constant.
UGANDA : Mainly due to the crisis in South Sudan, Uganda saw its refugee population go up from 477,200 at the end of 2015 to 940,800 at the end of 2016. It registered the greatest number of new refugees in 2016, with people also seeking asylum from Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Rwanda.
Quick facts:
* A refugee is someone forced to fl ee their country because of persecution, war or violence
* The number of refugees worldwide increased to 22.5 mn by the end of 2016
* There were 40.3 mn internally displaced people and 2.8 mn asylum seekers
* During 2016, 10.3 mn people were newly displaced by conflict or persecution
* 14.5 mn of the world’s refugees under *UNHCR's mandate are being hosted by developing nations and 4.9 mn by least developed countries
* Total refugees under UNHCR’s mandate are 17.2 m. The global total of 22.5 million include the 5.3 m Palestinian refugees who are registered under UNRWA
