Refugees and displaced persons

In 2007, although the total number of persons of concern to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (unhcr) dropped to 31.7 million, from 32.9 million in 2006, the refugee population worldwide increased for the second consecutive year, owing to conflicts in the Horn of Africa and in Iraq. Of the total, some 13.7 million were internally displaced persons (idps), followed by nearly 11.4 million refugees, 3 million stateless persons and 740,000 asylum-seekers. An estimated 2.8 million refugees and idps returned to their place of origin, most of them with assistance from unhcr. Africa hosted a quarter (2.4 million) of the global refugee population and half of the world’s 24.5 million idps. The United States accepted more than half of the refugees resettled globally under unhcr auspices, or some 31,800 individuals.

Sustainable Development Goals:

Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions

Partnerships for the Goals