2007 Global Trends: Refugees, Asylum-seekers, Returnees, Internally Displaced and Stateless Persons

The past year witnessed significant humanitarian developments. On the one hand, armed conflicts resulted in the movement of millions of people within and outside their countries; on the other hand, millions of displaced were able to return home or found another durable solution. However, the net result of these developments was that the number of people uprooted by armed conflict continued to rise for the second consecutive year.

Despite UNHCR’s efforts to find durable solutions, the number of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) under its care rose by 2.5 million in the course of year, reaching an unprecedented 25.1 million by the end of the reporting period. The number of refugees under UNHCR’s responsibilty rose from 9.9 to 11.4 million by the end of 2007. The global number of people affected by conflict-induced internal displacement increased from 24.4 to 26 million2, with UNHCR currently providing protection or assistance either directly or indirectly to 13.7 million of them.

More informations : http://www.unhcr.org/statistics.html