Credit: UN
World Refugee Day is commemorated annually on June 20 to raise awareness of the plight of refugees around the globe. This year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is drawing attention to the near-record number of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) unable to return home due to conflict, humanitarian crises, and other causes. At over 45 million people, the current number of refugees and IDPs is the highest in nearly twenty years. [UNHCR]
In UNHCR Global Trends 2012: Displacement – The New 21st Century Challenge, a report released on June 19, UNHCR reviews and explains displacement trends around the world in 2012. Notably, the report states that there were 35.8 million refugees and internally displaced persons in 2012, the second highest number in history. Of those persons, almost half (46 percent) were children, with over 21,000 asylum applications from unaccompanied youth around the world. [UNHCR] Refugee-hosting countries did not change significantly from 2011 with the same three countries, Pakistan, Iran, and Germany, hosting the largest numbers of refugees in 2012. Fifty-five percent of refugees in 2012 came from only five countries: Afghanistan, Somalia, Iraq, Syria, and Sudan, with armed conflict as the main cause of displacement.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan has produced the world’s largest number of refugees for the past 32 years. [Reliefweb] Many of the reasons Afghans are currently vulnerable – including insecurity and civilian casualties, as well as low access to adequate health and nutrition – are related to the ongoing conflict. [Reliefweb]
Somalia
Due to both famine and a conflict between Somalia’s government and insurgent forces, over 1 million Somalis fled their country as refugees in 2012. [UNHCR Somalia; UNHCR Report] The most vulnerable populations in Somalia include women, persons with HIV/AIDS, and sex workers. [IOM]
Iraq
The military action and conflict in Iraq have weakened security in Iraq and created political and economic challenges, causing many Iraqis to seek refuge in other parts of Iraq and in neighboring countries. [UNHCR Iraq] Many Iraqis fled to Syria, only to return during the ongoing conflict there. In addition to the repatriated and internally displaced Iraqis, Syrian refugees fleeing to Iraq now also need assistance.
Syria
The ongoing conflict in Syria has caused perhaps millions to flee their homes. [UNHCR Syria] Referring to Syrian refugees, the High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, stated, “In all the years I have worked on behalf of refugees, this is the most worrying I have ever witnessed. The needs of these people are overwhelming; their anguish is unbearable.” [UNHCR] UNHCR is currently labeling the situation of Syrian refugees an emergency. [UNHCR] In fact, Mr. Guterres chose to spend World Refugee Day in Jordan, where he greeted hundreds of refugees flooding across the border from Syria.
Sudan
Years of civil war, uncertainty over legal status and nationality after South Sudan’s secession from Sudan, as well as separate crises in Darfur, Abyei, Southern Kordofan, and the Blue Nile have created large numbers of refugees, internally displaced persons, and stateless persons in Sudan. [IOM] While a peace agreement was signed between the government and one rebel group in 2011, violence has persisted. [UNHCR Sudan]
Other countries seeing a recent increase in displaced and refugee populations include Nigeria, Mali, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Ethiopia.
Another concern is the high number of newly displaced persons, which Mr. Guterres states, “reflect[s] the difficulties of the international community in preventing conflicts and promoting timely solutions for them.” [UNHCR] The rate of newly displaced persons in 2012 was equivalent to a new refugee or displaced person every 4.1 seconds around the world. Pointing mainly to the emergency in Syria, many called for greater efforts to address conflicts that create refugees and internally displaced persons and to assist those in need through durable solutions. [UN; New York Times; Brookings; Huffington Post]
This year’s World Refugee Day theme is family, and many events and symbolic acts around the world conveyed solidarity with the families affected by displacement. Additionally, UNHCR released a song, entitled Peace, in honor of the “1 family” campaign. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) also displays what a refugee’s first night in the United States can be like in an IOM-run hotel in this short film.