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* General refugee and displaced persons figures
(these figures do not include recent displacements caused by the conflict in Chechnya):
Of the 90 million or so people in the world today migrating from one nation to another, roughly 13 million can be strictly classified as refugees. In 1998 there were almost 22 million "people of concern" to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. People of concern to UNCHR include refugees, internally displaced people (people forced from home within their own national borders) returning refugees, returning internally displaced people, and asylum seekers.
More stats Capital punishment Environment Homelessness Welfare reform Our booming prisons Disappearing health care Refugees worldwide Misc. stats During 1998, some 986,000 refugees repatriated voluntarily.
By the end of 1998, Asia hosted the largest number of refugees (41 per cent), followed by Africa (28 per cent), Europe (23 per cent), North America (6 per cent), Latin America and the Caribbean and Oceania (each 1 per cent). Asia hosts 35 per cent of the total population of concern to UNHCR, Africa and Europe host each 29 per cent, whereas North America accounts for 6 per cent. Latin America and the Caribbean and Oceania each host less than one per cent of the total population of concern to UNHCR.
Refugees and the United States:
The United States is a party to the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees and has enacted relevant legislation governing the protection of refugees. The population of refugees and others of concern to UNHCR in the United States, including asylees, resettled refugees and asylum-seekers with pending claims, was estimated to be 1,146,400 in 1998.
Origin of major refugee populations
(As of December 31, 1998)
Source: U.S. Committee for RefugeesPalestinians 3,816,000* Afghanistan 2,600,000* Iraq 586,000* Sierra Leone 480,000* Bosnia and Hercegovina 424,000* Somalia 421,000* Sudan 352,000 Eritrea 323,000* Liberia 310,000* Croatia 309,000 Angola 302,000 Burundi 281,000 Vietnam 281,000 El Salvador 250,000** Burma 238,000* Azerbaijan 218,000 Armenia 180,000 Guatemala 151,000** Yugoslavia 145,000 Congo-Kinshasa 136,000 China (Tibet) 128,000 Sri Lanka 126,000* Bhutan 115,000* Western Sahara 105,000* Cambodia 51,000 Philippines 45,000 Uzbekistan 45,000 Algeria 40,000* Ethiopia 40,000* Iran 40,000 Mauritania 30,000 Georgia 23,000 India 22,000 Turkey 22,000 Congo-Brazzaville 20,000 Nicaragua 19,000 Chad 16,000 Tajikistan 15,000* Laos 12,000 Rwanda 12,000* Uganda 12,000 Ghana 11,000 Guinea-Bissau 11,000 Senegal 10,000 The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) received 35,038 applications for asylum during fiscal year 1998, a decline of more than 50 percent from 1997. The approval rate was roughly 20 percent, although several thousand more win asylum in Immigration Court or on appeal. The United States is the leading destination of refugees resettled through UNHCR, accounting for half of all resettlement worldwide.
The United States made substantial changes in the national laws and procedures governing asylum in the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) of 1996. UNHCR remains particularly concerned by the "expedited removal" procedures established under IIRIRA and the provisions rendering those convicted of crimes designated as "aggravated felonies" ineligible for asylum and withholding of removal. UNHCR has also made representations to the INS regarding its detention policies and practices, particularly with respect to unaccompanied children and vulnerable asylum seekers.—UNCHR and the U.S.
In 1996, the United States admitted some 75,700 refugees from the former Soviet Union, Vietnam, Bosnia, Cuba, Somalia, Rwanda, Iran, Iraq, and other countries. Up to 78,000 refugees were admitted in 1997.
At the beginning of 1998 there were 398,598 refugee asylum cases pending in the U.S. During the year, 58,876 cases were submitted; 9,939 obtained refugee status; 3,189 were rejected. At the end of the 1998, there were 360,663 asylum cases pending in the United States.—United Nations High Commission for Refugees
In 1999 there were 14,156 Kosovars and 24,498 Eastern European refugees admitted into the U.S. In 2000 the regional refugee ceiling for Eastern Europe is 27,000. That includes 10,000 admissions slots for "Kosovo-affected" refugees, as long as the current resources from the 1999 Kosovo Emergency Supplemental fund remain available.
The second-largest group of refugees admitted into the U.S. in 1999 were from the former Soviet Union. Nearly 17,000 refugees were admitted, while the ceiling allowed for 23,000. In 2000 the ceiling has dropped to 20,000 refugees.—U.S. Committee for Refugees
How refugees to U.S. are prioritized:
The first priority for U.S. refugee processing includes: "persons facing compelling security concerns in countries of first asylum; persons in need of legal protection because of the danger of refoulement; those in danger due to threats of armed attack in areas where they are located; persons who have experienced persecution because of their political, religious, or human rights activities; women-at-risk; victims of torture or violence; physically or mentally disabled persons; persons in urgent need of medical attention not available in the first asylum country; and persons for whom other durable solutions are not feasible and whose status in the place of asylum does not present a satisfactory long-term solution."
The second priority for U.S. refugee processing includes select groups or persons from Africa, Bosnia, Burma, Cuba, Iran, the former Soviet Union, and Vietnam.—U.S. Committee for Refugees compiled from U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration.
Other refugees destinations:
In 1999, Germany received 95,331 "first" applications for asylum, while the United Kingdom received approximately 89,700. Switzerland followed behind with 46,133 applications. All together, European nations received more than 400,000 asylum applications last year.—United Nations High Commission for Refugees
For further info:
United Nations High Commission for Refugees
U.S. Committee for Refugees
U.S. Committee for Refugees compiled from U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration
Locked away: immigration detainees in jails in the United States
Oneworld's refugee and migration resources
Refworld (refugee-related databases)
* For the purpose of these statistics, the 1998 total population of concern to UNHCR has been defined as follows:
Refugees: persons recognized as refugees under the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol, the 1969 Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, persons recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR Statute, persons granted humanitarian status and those granted temporary protection.
Returned refugees or "returnees": refugees who have repatriated voluntarily to their place of origin and who remain of concern to UNHCR for a limited period after their return. For the purpose of these statistics, a cut-off period of two years has been applied.
Asylum-seekers: persons whose applications for asylum are pending in the asylum procedure or who are otherwise registered as asylum-seekers.
Certain specific groups of persons not coming within the ordinary mandate of UNHCR, but to whom the Office extends protection and/or assistance pursuant to a special request by a competent organ of the United Nations. This category comprises certain groups of internally displaced, including returned internally displaced, certain groups of war victims, certain nationals of the former Soviet Union whose nationality is undetermined and who have not established a national bond with any of the countries which emerged following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, etc.In recent years, UNHCR's involvement with persons who have not crossed an international border, such as the internally displaced, refugees who have returned home ("returnees") and persons threatened with displacement by, or otherwise at risk from, armed conflict, has increased substantially. In view of the above, and taking into consideration the rise in the number of persons granted temporary protection and those allowed to remain in countries of asylum on humanitarian grounds, the term "refugee" needs to be qualified by an indication of the group concerned. In this report, terms "refugees and others of concern to UNHCR", "total population of concern to UNHCR", etc. have been used to reflect these various categories.
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