Governance

About 65 million people were living in forced displacement at the end of 2015

A new report by World Bank assesses the global refugee crisis and examines solutions. Quick facts from the report

 
By DTE Staff
Published: Friday 16 September 2016

At the end of 2015, Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan, Syria’s neighbours, hosted 27 per cent of all refugees worldwide (Photo courtesy: European Commission DG ECHO, via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

  • The forced displacement crisis primarily affects developing countries. It originates from a few protracted conflicts in about 10 countries—Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan, Colombia, the Caucasus and the former Yugoslavia.
  • About 15 neighbouring countries bear the largest responsibility for hosting refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). At the end of 2015, Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan, Syria’s neighbours, hosted 27 per cent of all refugees worldwide; Pakistan and Iran, Afghanistan’s neighbors, hosted 16 per cent; and Ethiopia and Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan's neighbors, hosted seven per cent.
  • About 65 million people were living in forced displacement at the end of 2015, or almost one per cent of the world’s population.
  • The number of refugees is currently at its second-highest level since 1951: it peaked at the end of the Cold War, at about 10 per cent above current levels.
  • By end-2015, Africa and the Middle East accounted for almost 60 per cent of all forcibly displaced persons.
  • As of end-2015, the three largest countries of origin for refugees—Syria (4.8 million), Afghanistan (2.7 million), and Somalia (1.1 million)—accounted for half of all refugees under United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) mandate.
  • Countries accommodating large numbers of asylum-seekers for whom the determination of refugee status is ongoing include South Africa (1.1 million), Germany (421,000), the United States (286,000), Turkey (212,000), and Sweden (157,000).
  • About 24 per cent of refugees live in managed camps or in collective centres. The largest refugee camps are in Africa, especially around Somalia and South Sudan.

Source: Forcibly Displaced — Toward a development approach supporting refugees, the internally displaced, and their hosts, a study by World Bank in partnership with UNHCR

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