United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ Global Trends report released on June 18 says that Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia in East Africa along with seven other countries, including Turkey, Jordan and Pakistan, host over 57 per cent of the world’s 60 million refugees.
Ethiopia alone received around 236,000 new refugees — mostly from South Sudan and Eritrea — in 2014, bringing its total to 660,000, while Kenya received 78,500 bringing its total refugee population to 551,000. Uganda has 385,000 refugees.
The number of refugees across East Africa is expected to increase significantly this year, with large numbers fleeing Burundi to neighbouring Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo.
Africa hosts over 4 million refugees, compared with 7.5 million in Asia, 1.5 million in Europe and 416,000 in North America.
Globally, one in every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced or seeking asylum. If this were the population of a country, it would be the world’s 24th biggest.
Over half the world’s refugees are children.
The report also notes that the wealthy countries are relying overwhelmingly on poorer states to take in those who have been forced out of their homelands. In 2014, 86 per cent of refugees were in regions or countries deemed economically less developed.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres called on the international community to show resolve, tolerance and a proper financial commitment to helping those most in need.
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