Refugees in General

Who is a refugee?

The official definition of a refugee is:
"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, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country." The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.

How many refugees are there in the world?

The number varies each year. It is usually influenced by new conflicts or wars around the world. The number of refugees under UNHCR's responsibility rose from 9.9 to 11.4 million by the end of 2007. More detailed information is available in the UNHCR's 2007 Global Trends publication or the UNHCR's website.

Which countries have resettlement or quota programmes?

Nine governments - United States, Canada, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Finland, New Zealand, Denmark and The Netherlands - currently host the bulk of refugees who are annually resettled in new countries. Finding other states willing to accept vulnerable people and strengthening recently introduced programmes in places like Chile, Benin, Burkina Faso, Brazil, Ireland, Iceland and the United Kingdom has become a UNHCR priority. Other countries accept cases on an ad hoc basis. The USA and Canada have the biggest numerical programmes but, proportionate to population, New Zealand's 750 is one of the highest rates of acceptance in the world.

Do many refugees go back to their own countries?

Many refugees cannot return to their home countries for political and security reasons. Sometimes, if their own country becomes safe and peaceful again, some refugees may decide to return home. This is called "repatriation".

The UNHCR website has a more extensive list of questions and answers about refugees and their protection.