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World marks refugee day as 37m refugees in spotlight
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-06-20 16:53 NAIROBI -- As the world marks the refugee day on Friday, the UN refugee agency says over 37 million people were living as refugees from conflicts or persecution at the end of 2007, marking the second straight year of increases after a five-year decline. "We are now faced with a complex mix of global challenges that could threaten even more forced displacement in the future," visiting UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said.
"They range from multiple new conflict-related emergencies in world hotspots to bad governance, climate-induced environmental degradation that increases the competition for scarce resources, and extreme price hikes that have hit the poor the hardest and are generating instability in many places," the high commissioner said. The number of refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) being supported by the UN refugee agency rose by 2.5 million last year, spurred largely by instability in Iraq and other hotspot regions. Colombia, Iraq, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda have the highest number of people displaced within their own country, it said. "Much of the increase in refugees in 2007 was a result of the volatile situation in Iraq," said the UNHCR in its annual survey of "Global Trends,"released ahead of World Refugee Day. "The top refugee-hosting countries in 2007 included Pakistan, Syria, Iran, Germany and Jordan," the agency noted.
Top destination countries for those seeking permanent asylum from their home countries were the United States, South Africa, Sweden, France, Britain, Canada and Greece. |
