Refugee

Refugees in 2024[1]
Total population

122.6 million forcibly displaced, including:

  • 72.1 million internally displaced
  • 8 million seeking asylum
  • 43.7 million refugees, of which:
    • 32 million are under the mandate of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
    • 6 million are Palestinians under UNRWA's mandate, and
    • 5.8 million are others in need of international protection
Regions with significant populations
Sub-Saharan Africa7.0 million
Europe and North Asia12.4 million
Asia and the Pacific6.8 million
Middle East and North Africa2.4 million
Americas800,000

A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as a result of who they are, what they believe in or say, or because of armed conflict, violence or serious public disorder."[2] Such a person may be called an asylum seeker until granted refugee status by a contracting state or by the UNHCR[3] if they formally make a claim for asylum.[4]

Internally Displaced People (IDPs) are often called refugees, but they are distinguished from refugees because they have not crossed an international border, although their reasons for leaving their home may be the same as those of refugees.[5]

  1. ^ UNHCR Figures at a glance, Wikidata Q133327447
  2. ^ "Who We Protect: Refugees". UNHCR/USA. Retrieved 20 October 2024.
  3. ^ Convention Protocol relating 1967.
  4. ^ Truth about asylum.
  5. ^ "Internally Displaced Persons". United Nations High Commission for Refugees. Retrieved 10 July 2017.