About the Global Refugee Crisis

The Global Refugee Crisis 

Wars, conflicts, and other events have resulted in millions of refugees scattered in camps, makeshift housing, and communities across the globe. According to the UNHCR, as of mid-2021, there are currently over 84 million refugees, 68% of whom originate from only 6 countries: Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Palestine, and Myanmar. Yet despite these enormous numbers, only 142,900 returned to their homes or were resettled in the first half of 2021. 

For the most recent numbers, click here.

Who is a refugee?

The UN 1951 Refugee Convention defines a refugee as a person who “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.”

Refugee Admissions in the US

• History

The United States has a long history of accepting refugees and those fleeing persecution. However, the first concerted effort undertaken by the US government to resettle a large number of refugees was in 1948 when Congress enacted the first legislation allowing hundreds of thousands of displaced Europeans to resettle in the United States. Following the Vietnam War in 1975, which resulted in millions of refugees being displaced, the US Congress passed The Refugee Act of 1980. This act systemized refugee resettlement in the US, and allowed for the resettlement of over 3 million refugees since 1975.

• Process

Refugees seeking resettlement in the United States undergo a long and arduous process that includes security, health, and other background checks and vetting unlike most other people entering the United States. This includes background checks and screenings by the FBI, Department of State, Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), USCIS, and many other governmental agencies and nongovernmental partners. 

Why is it so hard for refugees to find refuge?

Refugees flee many different countries on a daily basis. They also face varying levels of hostility and accommodation from their countries of refuge.

The vast majority of refugees are internally displaced or settle in nearby countries, but as those refugee programs are underfunded.

Because resettlement is obligatory and costly to the countries of refuge, they have little investment in ensuring the well-being of refugees on their journeys to safety and many die in transit. Those who do make it are faced with few employment opportunities, hostility, sparse resettlement accommodations provided by their new countries, and other difficulties of transition. This results in many refugees paying smugglers to help them reach other countries in Europe and North America on treacherous journeys across land and sea, where they risk exposure to the elements and more violence such as gang violence, gender based violence, border police brutality and other physical and emotional threats. 

The most pressing crises around the world

• Afghanistan

Afghanistan has experienced a tumultuous recent history with decades of war that has resulted in over 2.6 million refugees and 3.5 million internally displaced Afghans. With the recent Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the refugee crisis there is expected to be exacerbated in the near future, with hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees already evacuated by US and NATO allies. 

For more information on the Afghan refugee crisis visit this link.

• South Sudan 

South Sudan is experiencing the largest refugee crisis in Africa, and the third largest in the world. The vast majority of South Sudan refugees are women and children with more than half being children, with 2.2 million refugees and asylum seekers and 4.3 million displaced persons. 

For more information on the South Sudan refugee crisis visit this link, this link, and this link.

• Syria 

Since the onset of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, civilians have fled violence which involves many different warring groups both inside and outside of Syria’s borders.

There 6.6 million refugees and 6.7 million internally displaced people. Syria’s refugees have sought refuge in over 130 countries, however, the vast majority of Syria’s refugees are in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt. 

For more information on the Syrian refugee crisis visit this link.

• Venezuela 

Violence, economic turmoil, and food insecurity in Venezuela have resulted in one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. Over 5.9 million Venezuelans have sought refuge in nearby countries 

For more information on the Venezuela refugee crisis visit this link and this link.

• Yemen 

Since conflict broke out in Yemen in 2015, nearly 4 million Yemenis have been forcibly displaced, with 200,000 seeking refuge in other countries. Yemen also hosts 137,000 refugees from Somalia and Ethiopia. There is a humanitarian catastrophe looming in Yemen with 16 million people suffering from hunger, and 5 million on the brink of a famine. Moreover, superimposed on this reality is a health calamity due to the COVID-19 pandemic and outbreaks of cholera, measles, dengue fever and diphtheria. 

For more information on the unfolding humanitarian and refugee crisis in Yemen, visit this link. 

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