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What countries have the largest population of refugee origin?



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For centuries, refugees have been an accepted part of human migration. Numerous geopolitical transitions have caused large refugee migrations. In the 20th century, wars have been the leading cause to create most “out-migration,” that is, people abandoning their own country to settle in another.

During the Russian Revolution of 1917, over 1.5 million people fled from the country, as they were opposed to communism. Similarly, between 1915 and 1923, Armenians had fled Turkey to avoid falling victims to persecution and genocide. It was in 1947, the world’s largest population transfer in history took place during partition of India. Muslims in India were transferred to the newly created Pakistan, and Hindus to the new boundaries of India. The 21st century has seen immense civil unrest, due to terrorism, strife, economic instability and political turmoil. Regions of Africa and the Middle East have been deeply affected, and millions of refugees from these strife-torn countries have left their homes in search of a safer environment.

According to World Bank data for year 2016, Syria had the largest population of refugee origin. Over 5.5 million people fled their homes to escape the political crisis prevailing in the country. The Syrian crisis has becoming a major problem for the world, as numerous governments are involved. The neighboring countries of Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey are struggling to deal with the large number of refugee exoduses.

When refugees move to another country, that country is then called as the ‘host nation.’ Refugees can remain in these countries legally, until the situation in their own country recovers. However, quite often people prefer to stay in their ‘new’ country legally or illegally because the conditions are better than the country they abandoned. The United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) encourages hosts nations to provide quality assistance, but the host nations are often themselves struggling. It is one of the reasons why worldwide suffering can be diminished only with better help from developed countries.


Here is a list of countries and their population of refugee origin, according to World Bank stats of 2016:

Country Refugee population (2016) Country Refugee population (2016)
Syria 5,524,333 Czech Republic 1,266
Afghanistan 2,501,410 Niger 1,210
South Sudan 1,436,667 Romania 1,190
Somalia 1,012,277 Poland 1,144
Sudan 650,588 Ecuador 1,021
Democratic Republic of the Congo 537,429 Kuwait 1,008
Central African Republic 490,869 St. Lucia 993
Myanmar 490,265 Tajikistan 910
Eritrea 459,390 Saudi Arabia 897
Burundi 408,036 Bulgaria 794
Vietnam 329,331 Brazil 793
Iraq 315,998 Slovakia 792
Colombia 311,051 Fiji 791
Rwanda 286,033 Montenegro 708
Ukraine 239,048 Comoros 557
Nigeria 229,261 Tanzania 554
China 207,733 Bolivia 515
Mali 156,390 Chile 490
Sri Lanka 117,447 Israel 467
Pakistan 105,376 Benin 464
Palestinian 97,749 Bahrain 446
Iran 94,042 Malaysia 443
Ethiopia 83,894 South Africa 427
Russia 62,737 Philippines 421
Turkey 57,885 Malawi 407
Cote d’Ivoire 46,741 Papua New Guinea 391
Serbia 36,898 North America 353
Mauritania 36,228 Turkmenistan 346
Haiti 29,661 Dominican Republic 344
Croatia 26,211 Estonia 298
Senegal 23,019 Trinidad and Tobago 295
Egypt 19,742 Bahamas, 293
El Salvador 19,595 Madagascar 277
Yemen 18,396 United States 277
Bosnia and Herzegovina 18,179 Guyana 269
Zimbabwe 18,116 Botswana 265
Guinea 17,526 Zambia 246
Ghana 15,507 South Korea 243
Chad 14,146 Swaziland 219
Bangladesh 13,810 Costa Rica 197
Republic of the Congo 13,231 Latvia 165
Indonesia 13,046 Gabon 152
Guatemala 12,534 Barbados 144
Cambodia 12,408 Thailand 143
Bhutan 11,732 Equatorial Guinea 126
Gambia 11,569 Argentina 115
Albania 11,050 United Arab Emirates 103
Armenia 10,687 Greece 101
Honduras 10,479 Mauritius 101
Mexico 10,367 Grenada 100
Cameroon 10,328 United Kingdom 78
Azerbaijan 10,087 Antigua and Barbuda 77
Libya 8,796 Canada 76
Angola 8,363 Germany 67
Nepal 8,350 Solomon Islands 66
Togo 8,286 Lithuania 64
Venezuela 7,513 Paraguay 63
Kenya 7,506 Belize 53
India 7,243 Japan 53
Laos 7,224 Maldives 48
Liberia 6,513 France 45
Georgia 6,365 Belgium 44
Uganda 6,189 Italy 44
Cuba 5,925 St. Kitts and Nevis 44
Lebanon 4,709 Curacao 35
Sierra Leone 4,628 Mozambique 33
Belarus 3,824 Panama 33
Uzbekistan 3,809 Singapore 33
Algeria 3,675 Spain 29
Hungary 2,904 Netherlands 27
Peru 2,589 Sao Tome and Principe 26
Kyrgyzstan 2,546 New Zealand 25
Burkina Faso 2,327 Tonga 25
Kazakhstan 2,326 Dominica 20
Moldova 2,291 Oman 20
Mongolia 2,267 Qatar 20
Morocco 2,230 Suriname 16
Jamaica 1,988 Slovenia 15
Jordan 1,889 Turks and Caicos Islands 14
Macedonia 1,705 Timor-Leste 14
Euro area 1,696 Uruguay 13
Tunisia 1,667 Sweden 8
Guinea-Bissau 1,635 Cayman Islands 6
Djibouti 1,417 Hong Kong 5
Nicaragua 1,409 Lesotho 5
North Korea 1,409 Portugal 5
Namibia 1,348 Seychelles 5
St. Vincent and the Grenadines 1,330

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