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• The total comprises 16 million refugees (people who have fled across a border) and 26 million internally displaced people known as IDPs.

• The figure is a slight decline of 700,000 from 2007. However, it doesn't include an estimated 2.5 million displaced by conflict in Pakistan this year and hundreds of thousands displaced at the end of the war in Sri Lanka and by recent conflict in Somalia.

• At least 5.7 million refugees are living in limbo. The report counts 29 groups of 25,000 or more refugees in 22 nations who have been in exile for five years or more and for whom there's no immediate solution.

• There was a sharp slowdown in repatriation in 2008, partly reflecting deteriorating security in Afghanistan and Sudan. About 2 million people returned home. Refugee repatriation (604,000) was down 17 percent. Returns of IDPs (1.4 million) dropped 34 percent.

• Of the global total of uprooted people, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) cares for 25 million, including a record 14.4 million IDPs (up from 13.7 million in 2007) and 10.5 million refugees (down from 11.4 million in 2007). Another 4.7 million Palestinian refugees are cared for by the U.N. Relief and Works Agency.

• According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, the number of IDPs has stood at about 26 million for the past two years. No single agency has responsibility for all of them. Since 2005, UNHCR has seen the number of IDPs it cares for more than double.

• Aside from Pakistan, countries with major IDP populations include Colombia (estimated 3 million), Iraq (2.6 million), Sudan's Darfur (2 million), Democratic Republic of the Congo (1.5 million) and Somalia (1.3 million).

• Developing countries hosted 80 percent of all refugees, underscoring the disproportionate burden carried by those least able to afford it as well as the need for international support.

• Major refugee-hosting countries in 2008 included Pakistan (1.8 million), Syria (1.1 million), Iran (980,000), Germany (582,700), Jordan (500,400), Chad (330,500), Tanzania (321,900) and Kenya (320,600).

• The number of asylum seekers making individual claims rose to 839,000 - up 28 percent. South Africa (207,000) was the largest recipient of individual claims.

• Major countries where refugees originate from include Afghanistan (2.8 million) and Iraq (1.9 million), which together account for 45 percent of all refugees under UNHCR's responsibility. Other countries of origin include Somalia (561,000), Sudan (419,000), Colombia (374,000*) and D.R. Congo (368,000).

Background information

Briefings

Colombia displacement - [Who works where]

Iraq in turmoil - [Who works where]

Afghan turmoil - [Who works where]

Sri Lanka conflict - [Who works where]

Pakistan violence - [Who works where]

Darfur conflict - [Who works where]

Somalia troubles - [Who works where]

Topics

Refugees & displacement

Statistics graphs

Refugees residing here (2007)

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An internally displaced girl, who fled a military offensive in the Swat valley region, is photographed while standing in line for her ration of tea at the UNHCR (United Nations High ...

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