You’ve heard it off and on now for a year. “Most refugees since World War II.” “More migrants since the 1940’s.” And then someone would say, “Perhaps more than ever.” But did any of us know for sure — really? Now we do. The UN Refugee Agency (the UNHCR) just released a new report finding 65.3 million people were displaced
This translates to 1 in 113 displaced by conflict and persecution. That’s 24 people per MINUTE throughout the entire year in 2015. The numbers are so great, they represent more than the combined populations of Canada, Australia, and New Zealand combined. The 65.3 million refugees would be equal to the population of Thailand and larger than the entire United Kingdom… Bigger than Italy — roughly equal to the combined populations of Saudi Arabia and Morocco. If these were cities in the USA, they would represent the populations of the 109 largest cities in the country — all combined. Some 3.2 million are awaiting asylum decisions in industrialized countries. 40.8 million are internally displaced. Three countries produced half of all refugees: Syria at 4.9 million, Afghanistan at 2.7 million and Somalia at 1.1. But you’ll never guess the country with the most INTERNALLY displaced people. Colombia at 6.9 million, Syria at 6.6 million and Iraq at 4.4 million had the largest numbers of IDP’s. Turkey ended up taking honors for being willing to host the most refugees outright — at 2.5 million. But Lebanon hosted the most when compared to the home population. Children make up 51% of the total. Many are separated from their parents or traveling alone.
Recent Comments