| Field Listing - Refugees and internally displaced persons
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Country | Refugees and internally displaced persons
Afghanistan | IDPs: 136,565 (mostly Pashtuns and Kuchis displaced in south and west due to drought and instability) (2006)
Algeria | refugees (country of origin): 90,000 (Western Saharan Sahrawi, mostly living in Algerian-sponsored camps in the southwestern Algerian town of Tindouf) IDPs: 400,000-600,000 (conflict between government forces, Islamic insurgents) (2006)
Angola | refugees (country of origin): 13,464 (Democratic Republic of Congo) IDPs: 61,700 (27-year civil war ending in 2002; 4 million IDPs already have returned) (2006)
Armenia | refugees (country of origin): 219,324 (Azerbaijan) IDPs: 8,400 (conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh, majority have returned home since 1994 ceasefire) (2006)
Azerbaijan | refugees (country of origin): 2,800 (Russia) IDPs: 580,000-690,000 (conflict with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh) (2006)
Bangladesh | refugees (country of origin): 21,053 (Burma) IDPs: 65,000 (land conflicts, religious persecution) (2006)
Benin | refugees (country of origin): 26,632 (Togo) (2006)
Bosnia and Herzegovina | refugees (country of origin): 7,458 (Croatia) IDPs: 180,251 (Bosnian Croats, Serbs, and Muslims displaced in 1992-95 war) (2006)
Burma | IDPs: 540,000 (government offensives against ethnic insurgent groups near the eastern borders; most IDPs are ethnic Karen, Karenni, Shan, Tavoyan, and Mon) (2006)
Burundi | refugees (country of origin): 20,359 (Democratic Republic of the Congo) IDPs: 100,000 (armed conflict between government and rebels; most IDPs in northern and western Burundi) (2006)
Cameroon | refugees (country of origin): 39,303 (Chad), 9,711 (Nigeria), 13,000 (Central African Republic); note - there are an additional 10,000 Central African refugees unregistered with UNHCR as of December 2006 (2006)
Central African Republic | refugees (country of origin): 19,960 (Sudan), 3,325 (Democratic Republic of the Congo); note - UNHCR resumed repatriation of Southern Sudanese refugees in 2006 IDPs: 150,000 (ongoing unrest following coup in 2003) (2006)
Chad | refugees (country of origin): 234,000 (Sudan), 41,246 (Central African Republic) IDPs: 100,000 (2006)
China | refugees (country of origin): 300,897 (Vietnam), estimated 30,000-50,000 (North Korea) IDPs: 90,000 (2006)
Colombia | IDPs: 1.8-3.8 million (conflict between government and illegal armed groups and FARC factions; drug wars) (2006)
Congo, Democratic Republic of the | refugees (country of origin): 106,772 (Angola), 42,360 (Rwanda), 19,032 (Burundi), 18,954 (Uganda), 11,723 (Sudan), 5,243 (Republic of Congo) IDPs: 1.1 million (fighting between government forces and rebels since mid-1990s; most IDPs are in eastern provinces) (2006)
Congo, Republic of the | refugees (country of origin): 56,380 (Democratic Republic of Congo), 6,478 (Rwanda) IDPs: 48,000 (multiple civil wars since 1992; most IDPs are ethnic Lari) (2006)
Costa Rica | refugees (country of origin): 9,470 (Colombia) (2006)
Cote d'Ivoire | refugees (country of origin): 39,919 (Liberia) IDPs: 750,000 (2002 coup; most IDPs are in western regions) (2006)
Croatia | IDPs: 4,200-7,000 (Croats and Serbs displaced in 1992-95 war) (2006)
Cyprus | IDPs: 210,000 (both Turkish and Greek Cypriots; many displaced for over 30 years) (2006)
Djibouti | refugees (country of origin): 9,828 (Somalia) (2006)
Ecuador | refugees (country of origin): 9,851 (Colombia); note - UNHCR estimates as many as 250,000 Columbians are seeking asylum in Ecuador, many of whom do not register as refugees for fear of deportation (2006)
Egypt | refugees (country of origin): 60,000 - 80,000 (Iraq), 70,255 (Palestinian Territories), 13,446 (Sudan) (2006)
Eritrea | IDPs: 40,000-45,000 (border war with Ethiopia from 1998-2000; most IDPs are near the central border region) (2006)
Ethiopia | refugees (country of origin): 73,927 (Sudan), 15,901 (Somalia), 10,700 (Eritrea) IDPs: 100,000-280,000 (border war with Eritrea from 1998-2000 and ethnic clashes in Gambela; most IDPs are in Tigray and Gambela Provinces) (2006)
Gabon | refugees (country of origin): 7,298 (Republic of Congo) (2006)
Gambia, The | refugees (country of origin): 5,955 (Sierra Leone) (2006)
Gaza Strip | refugees (country of origin): 993,818 (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)) (2006)
Georgia | IDPs: 220,000-240,000 (displaced from Abkhazia and South Ossetia) (2006)
Ghana | refugees (country of origin): 38,684 (Liberia), 14,136 (Togo) (2006)
Guatemala | IDPs: undetermined (estimates vary from none to 1 million displaced from government's scorched-earth offensive in 1980s against indigenous people) (2006)
Guinea | refugees (country of origin): 54,810 (Liberia), 5,423 (Sierra Leone), 3,900 (Cote d'Ivoire) IDPs: 19,000 (cross-border incursions from Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Sierra Leone) (2006)
Guinea-Bissau | refugees (country of origin): 7,320 (Senegal) (2006)
India | refugees (country of origin): 77,200 (Tibet/China), 50,730 (Sri Lanka), 9,700 (Afghanistan) IDPs: at least 600,000 (about half are Kashmiri Pandits from Jammu and Kashmir) (2006)
Indonesia | IDPs: 200,000-350,000 (government offensives against rebels in Aceh; most IDPs in Aceh, Central Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi Provinces, and Maluku), 300,000 (December 2006 floods in Aceh regions) (2006)
Iran | refugees (country of origin): 662,355 (Afghanistan), 54,000 (Iraq) (2006)
Iraq | refugees (country of origin): 15,000 (Palestinian Territories), 11,960 (Iran), 16,110 (Turkey) IDPs: 1.9 million (ongoing US-led war and Kurds' subsequent return) (2007)
Israel | IDPs: 150,000-420,000 (Arab villagers displaced from homes in northern Israel) (2006)
Jordan | refugees (country of origin): 1,835,704 (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)), 700,000 - 1,000,000 (Iraq) IDPs: 160,000 (1967 Arab-Israeli War) (2006)
Kazakhstan | refugees (country of origin): 5,000 (Russia) (2006)
Kenya | refugees (country of origin): 150,459 (Somalia), 76,646 (Sudan), 14,862 (Ethiopia) IDPs: 431,150 (KANU attacks on opposition tribal groups in 1990s) (2006)
Korea, North | IDPs: 50,000-250,000 (government repression and famine) (2006)
Lebanon | refugees (country of origin): 405,425 (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)), 20,000-40,000 (Iraq) IDPs: 17,000 (1975-90 civil war, Israeli invasions), 200,000 (July-August 2006 war) (2006)
Liberia | refugees (country of origin): 6,592 (Cote d'Ivoire) IDPs: 13,000 (civil war from 1990-2004; IDP resettlement began in November 2004) (2006)
Libya | refugees (country of origin): 8,873 (Palestinian Territories) (2006)
Macedonia | IDPs: fewer than 1,000 (ethnic conflict in 2001) (2006)
Malaysia | refugees (country of origin): 19,153 (Indonesia), 14,208 (Burma) (2006)
Maldives | IDPs: 10,000 (December 2004 tsunami victims) (2006)
Mali | refugees (country of origin): 6,165 (Mauritania) (2006)
Mexico | IDPs: 10,000-12,000 (government's quashing of Zapatista uprising in 1994 in eastern Chiapas Region) (2006)
Namibia | refugees (country of origin): 11,900 (Angola) (2006)
Nepal | refugees (country of origin): 106,248 (Bhutan), 20,153 (Tibet/China) IDPs: 100,000-200,000 (ongoing conflict between government forces and Maoist rebels; displacement spread across the country) (2006)
Nigeria | refugees (country of origin): 6,051 (Liberia) IDPs: undetermined (communal violence between Christians and Muslims since President OBASANJO's election in 1999; displacement is mostly short-term) (2006)
Pakistan | refugees (country of origin): 1,084,208 (Afghanistan) IDPs: undetermined (government strikes on Islamic militants in South Waziristan), 34,000 (October 2005 earthquake; most of those displaced returned to their home villages in the spring of 2006) (2006)
Papua New Guinea | refugees (country of origin): 9,991 (Indonesia) (2006)
Peru | IDPs: 60,000 (civil war from 1980-2000; most IDPs are indigenous peasants in Andean and Amazonian regions) (2005)
Philippines | IDPs: 60,000 (fighting between government troops and MILF and Abu Sayyaf groups) (2006)
Russia | IDPs: 25,000-180,000 (displacement from Chechnya and North Ossetia) (2006)
Rwanda | refugees (country of origin): 41,403 (Democratic Republic of the Congo), 4,400 (Burundi) (2006)
Saudi Arabia | refugees (country of origin): 240,015 (Palestinian Territories) (2006)
Senegal | refugees (country of origin): 19,712 (Mauritania) IDPs: 22,400 (approximately 65% of the IDP population returned in 2005, but new displacement is occurring due to clashes between government troops and separatists in Casamance region) (2006)
Serbia | refugees (country of origin): 100,651 (Croatia), 46,951 (Bosnia and Herzegovina) IDPs: 228,000 (mostly ethnic Serbs and Roma who fled Kosovo in 1999) (2006)
Sierra Leone | refugees (country of origin): 59,952 (Liberia) (2006)
Solomon Islands | IDPs: 5,400 displaced by tsunami on 2 April 2007
Somalia | IDPs: 400,000 (civil war since 1988, clan-based competition for resources) (2006)
South Africa | refugees (country of origin): 10,609 (Democratic Republic of Congo), 7,548 (Somalia), 5,764 (Angola) (2006)
Sri Lanka | IDPs: 500,000-600,000 (both Tamils and non-Tamils displaced due to long-term Tamil conflict renewed in 2006) (2006)
Sudan | refugees (country of origin): 116,746 (Eritrea), 20,000 (Chad), 14,633 (Ethiopia), 7,895 (Uganda), 5,023 (Central African Republic) IDPs: 5,300,000 - 6,200,000 (internal conflict since 1980s; ongoing genocide in Darfur region, IDP registration for return to South Sudan started in 2005) (2006)
Syria | refugees (country of origin): 700,000 - 1.2 million (Iraq), 434,896 (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)) IDPs: 305,000 (most displaced from Golan Heights during 1967 Arab-Israeli War) (2006)
Tanzania | refugees (country of origin): 393,611 (Burundi), 150,112 (Democratic Republic of the Congo) (2006)
Thailand | refugees (country of origin): 116,499 (Burma) (2006)
Timor-Leste | IDPs: 150,000 (2006)
Togo | refugees (country of origin): 8,000 (Ghana) IDPs: 1,500 (2006)
Turkey | IDPs: 1-1.2 million (fighting 1984-99 between Kurdish PKK and Turkish military; most IDPs in southeastern provinces) (2006)
Turkmenistan | refugees (country of origin): 11,173 (Tajikistan) (2006)
Uganda | refugees (country of origin): 212,857 (Sudan), 20,564 (Democratic Republic of Congo), 20,213 (Rwanda) IDPs: 1.2-1.7 million (350,000 IDPs returned in 2006 following ongoing peace talks between the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda) (2006)
United States | refugees (country of origin): the US admitted 62,643 refugees during FY04/05 including, 10,586 (Somalia), 8,549 (Laos), 6,666 (Russia), 6,479 (Cuba), 3,100 (Haiti), 2,136 (Iran) (2006)
Uzbekistan | refugees (country of origin): 39,202 (Tajikistan) IDPs: 3,400 (forced population transfers by government from villages near Tajikistan border) (2006)
West Bank | refugees (country of origin): 705,207 (Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA)) (2006)
World | the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that in December 2005 there was a global population of 8.4 million registered refugees, the lowest number in 26 years, and as many as 23.7 million IDPs in more than 50 countries; the actual global population of refugees is probably closer to 10 million given the estimated 1.5 million Iraqi refugees displaced throughout the Middle East (2006)
Yemen | refugees (country of origin): 78,582 (Somalia) (2006)
Zambia | refugees (country of origin): 75,468 (Angola), 61,243 (Democratic Republic of the Congo), 5,669 (Rwanda) (2006)
Zimbabwe | refugees (country of origin): 6,536 (Democratic Republic of Congo) IDPs: 569,685 (MUGABE-led political violence, human rights violations, land reform, and economic collapse) (2006)
This page was last updated on 13 December, 2007