UNHCR: 2007 Global Trends

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

According to a report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 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 responsibility 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 million, with UNHCR currently providing protection or assistance either directly or indirectly to 13.7 million of them.

Analysis of refugee data reveals two major patterns. First, the vast majority of refugees are hosted by neighbouring countries with over 80% remaining within their region of origin. Second, available information indicates that the number of urban refugees continues to grow. It is estimated that half of the refugee population was residing in urban areas at the end of 2007.

While the number of refugees and IDPs falling under UNHCR’s responsibility was estimated at 25.1 million, available information suggests that a total of 67 million people had been forcibly displaced at the end of 2007. This includes 16 million refugees, of whom 11.4 million fall under UNHCR’s mandate and some 4.6 million Palestinian refugees under the responsibility of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). The number of IDPs is estimated at 51 million worldwide; some 26 million were displaced as a result of armed conflict and another 25 million were displaced by natural disasters. In addition, while often not considered as being displaced per se, it is estimated that there are some 12 million stateless people worldwide.

With forced displacement having grown in complexity and size in recent years, the 2007 Global Trends report depicts some of the major humanitarian trends and developments which have occurred during the reporting period, that is, between January and December 2007. In particular, it reviews the statistical trends and changes in 2007 in the global populations for whom UNHCR has been entrusted with a responsibility by the United Nations General Assembly. These include refugees, returnees, stateless persons and certain groups of IDPs, collectively referred to in the report as “persons of concern.”

The second major change relates to the category “Others” of concern to UNHCR. A reclassification of UNHCR statistics led to a significant reduction of individuals included in this group. People who are considered to be in a refugee-like situation or an IDP-like situation were removed from the Others of concern group. They are now included in the respective sub-groups under Refugee population and IDP population. The global refugee figure is obtained by adding up refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Likewise, the global number of IDPs who are protected and/or assisted by the Office is derived by adding up IDPs and people in IDP-like situations. Because of these major changes, the 2007 refugee and IDP figures are not fully comparable with previous years. The total population of concern, however, has remained unaffected despite these adjustments.

Global Trends 2007 is available online.

Archive of this section