REFUGEESBY numbers 2005 E D I T I O N
The joy of finally returning home to Liberia from neighboring Sierra Leone.
REFUGEESBY 2005 e d i t i o n numbers Cover: Women in Sudan s stricken Darfur region listen to plans to try to enhance their security. 4 i n t r o d u c t i o n 6 w h o d o e s u n h c r h e l p a n d h o w? 8 r e f u g e e s 10 a s y l u m s e e k e r s 12 i n t e r n a l l y d i s p l a c e d p e r s o n s U N H C R /H. c a u x/dp/s u d 2 0 0 4 13 s t a t e l e s s n e s s 14 r e t u r n e e s 16 r e s e t t l e m e n t 18 b a s i c f a c t s 19 n u m b e r s a t a g l a n c e U N H C R / b. H e g e r/c s / l b r 2 0 0 2 Tables 9 table 4 5 table 1 Number of persons of concern who fall under the mandate of UNHCR: by region, 1st January 2004 and 1st January 2005 6 table 2 Persons of concern to UNHCR: by category, 1st January 2005 9 table 3 Origin of major refugee populations: ten largest groups, in 2004 Major refugee arrivals: by origin, in 2004 11 table 5 Asylum applications submitted in selected countries: in 2004 12 table 6 Major IDP populations of concern to UNHCR: in 2004 14 table 7 Top ten voluntary repatriation movements: by destination, in 2004 16 table 8 Main countries of resettlement of refugees: in 2004 18 table 9 Estimated number of refugees and total persons of concern to UNHCR worldwide: 1980-2004 18 table 10 Basic facts: as of 1st July 2005 r e f u g e e s b y n u m b e r s 2 0 0 5 3
Some one million Afghans returned home in 2004 as the number of refugees worldwide continued to fall. u n h c r / p. b e n ata r /cs/pa k 2 0 0 2 i n t r o d u c t i o n At the start of 2005, the number of people of concern to UNHCR rose to 19.2 million from 17 million the previous year, an increase of 13 percent. The rise reflected differing patterns of movement among the various groups assisted by the agency, including refugees, civilians who have returned home but still need help, persons displaced internally within their own countries, asylum seekers and stateless people. In an encouraging trend, the number of refugees people who have fled persecution in their own countries to seek safety 4 r e f u g e e s b y n u m b e r s 2 0 0 5
in neighboring states and who comprise UNHCR s core constituency fell 4 percent in 2004 to 9.2 million. This was the lowest total in almost a quarter century. A total of 1.5 million refugees went home voluntarily, including 940,500 to Afghanistan and 194,000 to Iraq. These returns were offset somewhat by new refugee displacements totalling 232,100 people, principally in Sudan. t a b l e 1 There were large increases in the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) civilians uprooted by violence but who remain within their own countries and among stateless persons. Those two categories largely accounted for the overall growth in the number of people of concern to the organization. UNHCR assumed responsibility for the protection of 660,000 of the 1.8 million IDPs in the war-ravaged Darfur region of Sudan. In addition, government estimates of the number of displaced persons within Colombia rose from 1.2 million to 2 million. Statistics on stateless PERSONS OF CONCERN TO UNHCR - by region Total of Concern Region 1 Jan. 2004* 1 Jan. 2005 Asia 6, 112, 500 6, 899, 600 Africa 4, 285, 100 4, 861, 400 Europe 4, 242, 800 4, 429, 900 North America 978, 100 853, 300 Latin America & Caribbean 1, 316, 400 2, 070, 800 Oceania 74, 400 82, 400 Total 17, 009, 300 19, 197, 400 * Revised year-end figures. persons under the agency s mandate rose from 912,000 to more than 2 million, largely due to improved global data available for this group of vulnerable people. Despite the large number of civilians returning home, 2.1 million Afghans still in exile constituted UNHCR s largest single refugee group. Most of them live in Iran and Pakistan, which host the largest numbers of refugees globally 1,046,000 and 961,000 respectively. r e f u g e e s b y n u m b e r s 2 0 0 5 5
w h o d o e s u n h c r h e l p a n d h o w? UNHCR provides protection and assistance not only to refugees, but also to other categories of displaced or needy persons. These include asylum seekers, refugees who have returned home but still need help in rebuilding their lives, local civilian communities which are directly affected by the movements of refugees, stateless persons and so-called internally displaced persons (IDPs). These are people who have been forced to flee their homes, but who have not reached a neighboring country and therefore, unlike refugees, are not protected by international law or eligible to receive many types of aid. As the nature of war has changed in the last few decades, with more and more internal conflicts replacing interstate wars, the number of IDPs has increased significantly to an estimated 25 million worldwide. PERSONS OF CONCERN TO UNHCR - by category * Includes 147,900 IDPs who returned home in 2004. Returned refugees Internally displaced* stateless and various TOTAL 1st JAN. 2005 Region Refugees Asylum seekers Asia 3,471,300 56,200 1,145,900 1,389,000 837,200 6,899,600 Africa 3,022,600 208,100 329,700 1,233,900 67,100 4,861,400 Europe 2,067,900 269,800 18,800 951,100 1,122,300 4,429,900 North America 562,300 291,000 853,300 Latin America & Caribbean 36,200 8,100 100 2,000,000 26,400 2,070,800 Oceania 76,300 6,000 100 82,400 Total 9,236,600 839,200 1,494,500 5,574,000 2,053,100 19,197,400 t a b l e 2 6 In 2005, UNHCR was helping 5.6 million of these people together with United Nations sister agencies and other organizations, applying its longtime expertise in specific areas such as protection, shelter and camp management. r e f u g e e s b y n u m b e r s 2 0 0 5 u n h c r /b. h e g e r/dp/co l 2 0 0 3
UNHCR cared for a growing number of internally displaced persons globally, including two million in Colombia.
Refugees: 9.2 million UNHCR s founding mandate defines refugees as persons who are outside their country and cannot return owing to a well-founded fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership of a particular social group. Regional instruments such as the 1969 Organization of African Unity Refugee Convention and the 1984 Cartagena Declaration in Latin America expanded that mandate to include persons who have fled because of war or civil conflict. A total of 146 countries have signed the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol and recognize persons as refugees based on the definitions contained in these and regional instruments. The global refugee population dropped for the fourth consecutive year during 2004, from 9.7 million to 9.2 million, the lowest in nearly a quarter century. Some 1 million Afghans returned home though an additional 2 million remain in exile. There were other significant refugee returns to Iraq, Burundi, Angola and Liberia. New displacements totalled 232,100, the largest occurring in Sudan, where 146,900 people fled their homes. Refugees now constitute 48 percent of the total population of concern to the agency. 8 r e f u g e e s b y n u m b e r s 2 0 0 5
Civilians continued to flee from Sudan s Darfur region into neighboring Chad during the year. u n h c r / h.c a u x /dp/c h d 2 0 0 4 Origin of Major Refugee Populations in 2004 [ T e n l a r g e s t g r o u p s ] country of origin 1 main countries of asylum total Afghanistan 2 Pakistan / Iran / Germany / Netherlands 2, 084, 900 United Kingdom Sudan Chad / Uganda / Ethiopia / Kenya / D.R. Congo 730, 600 Central African Rep. Burundi Tanzania / D.R. Congo / Rwanda / South Africa 485, 800 Canada Democratic Rep. Congo Tanzania / Zambia / Congo / Burundi / Rwanda 462, 200 Somalia Kenya / Yemen / United Kingdom / USA / Djibouti 389, 300 Palestinians 3 Saudi Arabia / Egypt / Iraq / Libya / Algeria 350, 600 Viet Nam China / Germany / USA / France / Switzerland 349, 800 Liberia Guinea / Côte d Ivoire / Sierra Leone / Ghana / USA 335, 500 Iraq Iran / Germany / Netherlands / United Kingdom 311, 800 Sweden Azerbaijan Armenia / Germany / USA / Netherlands 250, 500 1 This table includes UNHCR estimates for nationalities in industrialized countries on the basis of recent refugee arrivals and asylum seeker recognition. 2 This is a UNHCR estimate. Despite major returns in 2004, the figure for Iran has been revised upwards in the light of a comprehensive registration exercise. The figure for Pakistan only includes Afghans living in camps, and does not include some 1.9 million Afghans living elsewhere in the country, some of whom may be refugees, who were counted for the first time in a census in early 2005. 3 This figure excludes some 4 million Palestinians who are covered by a separate mandate of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). Major Refugee arrivals during 2004 1 origin main countries of asylum total Sudan Chad / Uganda / Kenya 146, 900 D.R. Congo Burundi / Rwanda / Zambia / Uganda 38, 100 Somalia Yemen / Kenya 19, 100 Iraq Syria 12, 000 Côte d Ivoire Liberia / Mali 5, 900 Burundi Rwanda / Tanzania 4, 200 Liberia Sierra Leone / Côte d Ivoire / Guinea 3, 700 Central African Rep. Chad 500 Rwanda Malawi / D.R. Congo 500 Russian Federation Azerbaijan 500 1 Ten largest movements. t a b l e 4 t a b l e 3 r e f u g e e s b y n u m b e r s 2 0 0 5 9
Asylum seekers in Switzerland undergo computer training. Asylum seekers: 839,200 When people flee their own country and seek sanctuary in another state, they apply for asylum the right to be recognized as bona fide refugees and receive legal protection and material assistance. During 2004, some 676,400 people applied for asylum globally. The largest number of claims were filed by nationals from the Russian Federation, Serbia and Montenegro and China. Two-thirds of the new applications were lodged in Europe. Combined with requests still pending from previous years, the overall total awaiting a decision at the end of 2004 was 839,200. In the last five decades, several million people have been granted asylum worldwide, but in recent years the number of claims has been dropping steadily. In 38 so-called industrialized countries, for instance, the number of new asylum seekers in 2004 fell to its lowest level in 16 years. 10 r e f u g e e s b y n u m b e r s 2 0 0 5
u n h c r /s. h o p p e r /dp/s w i 2 0 0 5 t a b l e 5 new asylum applications submitted in selected industrialized countries 1 Country Asylum of Asylum applications Main Countries of Origin France 117, 300 Turkey / China / D.R. Congo / Algeria / Serbia-Montenegro United Kingdom 75, 200 Iran / Somalia / Pakistan / Zimbabwe / China Germany 50, 200 Serbia-Montenegro / Turkey / Russian Fed. / Iran / Viet Nam United States 2 45, 000 China / Haiti / Colombia / Indonesia / Mexico Switzerland 27, 600 Serbia-Montenegro / Turkey / Georgia / Stateless / Iraq Canada 25, 800 Colombia / Mexico / China / Sri Lanka / India Austria 24, 600 Russian Fed. / Serbia-Montenegro / India / Nigeria / Georgia Sweden 23, 200 Serbia-Montenegro / Stateless / Iraq / Russian Fed. / Azerbaijan Belgium 20, 400 Russian Fed. / D.R. Congo / Serbia-Montenegro / Iran / Turkey Slovakia 11, 400 India / Russian Fed. / China / Georgia / Moldova 1 Countries with more than 10,000 new asylum applications. 2 Data refers to individual or collective applications. [ in 2004 ] Women from all over the world seeking asylum in Europe are incarcerated at a hostel in Ukraine. U N H C R /l. tay lo r /cs/ukr 2004 In times of mega crises, the system of asylum is sometimes modified. During the 1990s Balkan wars when millions of people fled their homes, UNHCR recognized that such large outflows could overwhelm the asylum process in receiving countries. The agency suggested a simpler and faster mechanism of offering the arrivals temporary protection for a limited period of time, insisting, however, that asylum remained the cornerstone of its mandate to protect refugees. r e f u g e e s b y n u m b e r s 2 0 0 5 11
Internally displaced persons: 5,574,000 UNHCR extends protection or assistance to certain groups who were not included in the Office s original mandate, but whom the U.N. Secretary-General or the U.N. General Assembly have requested the agency to help. They include so-called internally displaced persons (IDPs) who are caught in situations similar to refugees, but who have stayed in their own countries rather than cross an international frontier. Because they, in effect, fall between the cracks of current humanitarian law MAJOR IDP POPULATIONS OF CONCERN TO UNHCR [ a t 1 S T J a n u a r y 2 0 0 5 ] Country IDPs Colombia * 2,000,000 Sudan 662,300 Azerbaijan 578,500 Liberia 498,600 Sri Lanka 352,400 Russian Federation 334,800 Bosnia-Herzegovina 309,200 Serbia-Montenegro 248,200 Georgia 237,100 Afghanistan 159,500 Côte d Ivoire 38,000 * Government estimate. According to NGOs, the year-end figure might be up to 3.3 million IDPs. t a b l e 6 Note: This table reflects only IDPs who are protected or assisted by UNHCR. UNHCR helps uprooted civilians in Colombia by providing them with a means of living, including fishing nets for river communities. and assistance, a widespread debate has been underway for several years on how best to help all IDPs and who should be responsible for their wellbeing. In 2004, there were an estimated 25 million internally displaced persons UNHCR /b. heger /cs/co l 2 0 0 3 worldwide. The U.N. refugee agency helped 5.6 million people from this group, a 21 percent jump compared with the figure of 4.4 million the previous year. The increase primarily reflected revised government figures from Colombia, where the number of aid recipients rose by nearly 760,000 to 2 million, as well as a group of 660,000 newly registered IDPs of concern to UNHCR in the Darfur region of Sudan. There were other groups of long-term IDPs in Sudan, Azerbaijan, Liberia and Sri Lanka. But in the two latter countries as well as Afghanistan, large numbers of civilians also returned home during the period. 12 r e f u g e e s b y n u m b e r s 2 0 0 5
Stateless and others of concern : 2,053,100 The U.N. refugee agency helps certain groups of war-affected populations and increasingly has been asked to assist growing numbers of the world s stateless persons. Exact numbers are difficult to obtain, but the best guesstimates are that there are several million stateless persons across the globe. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights underlines that Everyone has the right to a nationality. There are two specific treaties on statelessness the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness. Following a global consultation with governments and vastly improved data provided by 74 states, the number of stateless people and others of concern identified as needing the agency s immediate assistance rose sharply from 912,200 in 2003 to 2,053,100 a year later. UNHCR is trying to help more than two million stateless persons including large numbers of civilians from the Himalayan state of Bhutan. r e f u g e e s b y n u m b e r s 2 0 0 5 13 u n h c r /a. h o l l m a n n /cs/nep 1992
Returnees: 1,494,500 The majority of refugees prefer to return home as soon as circumstances permit, generally when a conflict has ended, a degree of stability has been restored and basic infrastructure is being rebuilt. UNHCR encourages voluntary repatriation as the best solution for displaced persons. The agency often provides transportation and a startup package which could include cash grants and practical assistance such as farm tools and seeds. On occasion, it extends this help to include the rebuilding of homes, schools, clinics and roads. Field staff monitor the well-being of returnees in delicate situations. The duration of such activities varies, but rarely lasts longer than two years when UNHCR s aid is normally replaced by longer-term development assistance from other organizations. The last three years marked an unprecedented level of return with more than 5 million refugees 3.5 of them Afghans going home. The year 2004 was no exception, with an estimated 1.5 million exiles returning to their countries in 27 large-scale repatriation programs. They included 940,500 Afghans, 194,000 Iraqis and groups from several African countries, among them Burundi, Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Rwanda. top ten voluntary repatriation movements [ i n 2 0 0 4, b y d e s t i n a t i o n ] 1 to (Country of Origin) from (main countries of asylum) total Afghanistan Iran / Pakistan 940, 500 Iraq Various / Iran / Lebanon 194, 000 Burundi Tanzania / D.R. Congo 90, 300 Angola Zambia / D.R. Congo / Namibia / Congo 90, 200 Liberia Guinea / Côte d Ivoire / Sierra Leone / Ghana / Nigeria 56, 900 Sierra Leone Liberia / Guinea 26, 300 Somalia Ethiopia / Djibouti 18, 100 Rwanda D.R. Congo / Uganda 14, 100 D.R. Congo Burundi / Central African Republic 13, 800 Sri Lanka India 10, 000 1 Figures are based on country of origin and asylum reports. t a b l e 7 14 r e f u g e e s b y n u m b e r s 2 0 0 5 u n h c r /b. h e g e r /dp/ e t h 2 0 0 5
Refugees returning in convoy from Ethiopia to their homes in Somaliland, some after many years in exile.
u n h c r /v. w i n t e r /dp/ u s a 2 0 0 4 M a i n c o u n t r i e s of resettlement of refugees [ i n 2 0 0 4 ] 1 United States 52,868 Australia 15,967 Canada 10,521 Sweden 1,801 Norway 842 New Zealand 825 Finland 735 Denmark 508 Netherlands 323 United Kingdom 150 Ireland 63 Chile 26 Mexico 11 1 Source: Governments. t a b l e 8 Resettlement: 83,700 Some refugees cannot go home or are unwilling to do so, usually because they would face continued persecution. In such circumstances, UNHCR helps to find them new homes, either in the asylum country where they are living or in third countries where they can be permanently resettled. Though many nations have agreed to accept refugees on 16 r e f u g e e s b y n u m b e r s 2 0 0 5
African children beginning a new life in New Zealand, and halfway across the world a family from Belarus starts life afresh in the United States. u n h c r /i. e a r p -jones/dp/ n z l 2 0 0 5 a temporary basis during the early phases of a crisis, fewer than 20 nations worldwide participate in UNHCR resettlement programs and accept quotas of refugees on an annual basis. Globally, the number of resettlement refugees plunged precipitously following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States, especially in that country. But gradually, they have been rising again and in 2004 reached 83,700 a 50 percent increase over the previous year. The United States and Australia, already the two largest receiver countries, both recorded further significant increases. r e f u g e e s b y n u m b e r s 2 0 0 5 17
Estimated number of refugees and total persons of concern to UNHCR worldwide 1 t a b l e 9 [ a l l f i g u r e s a s a t 3 1 D e c e m b e r o f e a c h g i v e n y e a r ] Total population of Refugees Year concern 8, 446, 000...1980... 9, 706, 000...1981... 10, 310, 000...1982... 10, 610, 000...1983... 10, 717, 000...1984... 11, 851, 000...1985... 12, 620, 000...1986... 13, 114, 000...1987... 14, 331, 000...1988... 14, 716, 000...1989... 17, 378, 000...1990... 16, 837, 000...1991... 17, 818, 000...1992... 16, 306, 000...1993... 15, 754, 000...1994... 14, 896, 000...1995... 13, 357, 000...1996... 12, 015, 000...1997...19, 795, 000 11, 481, 000...1998...19, 895, 000 11, 687, 000...1999...20, 628, 000 12, 130, 000...2000...21, 871, 000 12, 117, 000...2001...19, 922, 000 10, 594, 000...2002...20, 779, 000 9, 680, 000... 2003...17, 009, 000 9, 237, 000...2004...19, 197, 000 1 Includes revised year-end figures. 18 t a b l e 1 0 Basic Facts [ a s o f 1 s t J u l y 2 0 0 5 ] Number of UNHCR offices worldwide including Headquarters: 263 in 116 countries UNHCR staff members, including short-term staff : 6,540 Staff members in the field: 5,515 (84% of total) Ratio of staff members to people of concern to UNHCR : 1 per 2,935 Total UNHCR budget for 2005: US$ 1.35 billion r e f u g e e s b y n u m b e r s 2 0 0 5 Total budget for 2004: US$ 1.23 billion Number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working as implementing partners in July 2005: 578 Total number of NGOs as implementing partners in 2004: 605 States party to the 1951 Convention and/or to the 1967 Protocol : 145 u n h c r /r. o lc h i k /dp/s l e 2 0 0 4
NUMBERS AT A GLANCE At the start of the year 2005, the number of people of concern to UNHCR was 19.2 million. They included: 9.2 million refugees... 48% 839,200 asylum seekers...4% 1.5 million returned refugees... 8% 5.6 million internally displaced persons...29% 2 million others of concern...11% The figure of 19.2 million was an increase of 13 percent over the previous year s 17 million. The increase was attributable to two principal developments: a rise in the number of internally displaced persons and stateless people helped by the agency from 5.3 million to 7. 6 million. The global refugee population, UNHCR s core constituency dropped from 9.7 million to 9.2 million, principally because of the return of 940,500 Afghans from neighboring Pakistan and Iran. The number of people receiving assistance once they had gone back home returnees stood at 1.5 million in 2004, an increase of some 400,000 from 1.1 million in 2003. [23%], North America 853,300 [5%], Latin America 2 million [11%] and Oceania 82,400 [0.4%]. During 2004, a total of 676,400 people applied for asylum worldwide, two-thirds of them in Europe. The largest number of claims were from nationals of the Russian Federation, Serbia and Montenegro and China. Combined with applications still pending from previous years, the overall total awaiting decision at year s end was 839,200. Top five refugee hosting countries are: Iran...1,046,000 UNHCR estimate Pakistan...961,000 UNHCR estimate Germany...877,000 Tanzania...602,000 United States... 421,000 The three latter countries saw declines of between 8.7 and 7 percent in refugee numbers. PUBLISHED BY: UNHCR Media Relations and Public Information Service P.O. Box 2500 1211 Geneva 2 Switzerland www.unhcr.org For information and inquiries, please contact: Media Relations and Public Information Service hqpi00@unhcr.org Back cover: Sudan s children of war have sketched the trials of their daily life on the walls of their school. UNHCR/H. CAUX/DP/SUD 2004 There were 232,100 new refugees registered in 2004. Major exoduses occurred from Sudan [146,900], the Democratic Republic of Congo [38,100], Somalia [19,100] and Iraq [12,000]. Asia hosted more than a third of all the people of concern to UNHCR, 6.9 million or 36%, followed by Africa 4.9 million [25%], Europe 4.4 million UNHCR / PI / NUMBERS / ENG1 SEPTEMBER 2005