Worldwide displacement tops 70 million

outcome of their claim to refugee status. At the end of 2018 there were 3.5 million asylum seekers globally.

The third and biggest group, at 41.3 million, is people displaced to other areas within their own country, a category commonly referred to as Internally Displaced People or IDPs.

Overall growth in displacement continued to exceed the rate at which solutions are being found for people who become displaced. With refugees, the best solution is being able to return home voluntarily, in safety and dignity. Other solutions include being integrated into the host community or being resettled to a third country. However, only 92,400 refugees were resettled in 2018, less than 7 per cent of those awaiting resettlement. Some 593,800 refugees were able to return home, while 62,600 became naturalized.

“With every refugee situation, wherever it is, however long it has been going on for, there has to be an enduring emphasis on solutions and removing obstacles to people being able to return home,” said Grandi. “This is complex work in which UNHCR is constantly engaged but which also requires all countries to come together for a common good. It is one of the great challenges of our times.”

Global Trends 2018 – eight refugee facts:

·  Children: In 2018, every second refugee was a child, many (111,000) alone and without their families.

·  Toddlers: Uganda reported 2,800 refugee children aged five or below alone or separated from their families.

·  Urban phenomenon: As a refugee, you are more likely to live in a town or city (61 per cent) than in a rural area or camp.

·  Rich and poor: High income countries on average host 2.7 refugees per 1000 of population; Middle and low-income countries on average host 5.8; Poorest countries host a third of all refugees worldwide.

·  Whereabouts: About 80 per cent of refugees live in countries neighbouring their countries of origin.

·  Duration: Nearly 4 in every 5 refugees are in displacement situations that have lasted for at least five years. One in 5 have been in displacement situations that have lasted 20 years or more.

·  New asylum seekers: The greatest number of new asylum applications in 2018 was from Venezuelans (341,800).

·  Likelihood: The proportion of humanity who are refugees, asylum seekers, or internally displaced is now 1 in 108; Ten years ago it was 1 in 160.