The refugee burden on developing countries

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) report on World Refugee Day (June 20) said the number of people forced to leave their homes has increased from 43.3 million in 2010 to 43.7 million today, the highest level in the past 15 years.

Of these, 15.4 million are refugees abroad and 28.3 million are internally displaced within their own countries as a result of conflict and natural disasters.

Somali refugees at Dadaab refugee camp. Source: AFP/VNA

The UNHCR stressed that the refugee burden falls on developing countries with over 80% of refugees coming from the world's poorest countries.

There are 10.5 million refugees under UN protection and 4.82 million Palestinian refugees under the protection of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. Afghans accounted for more than 30% of the global refugee population in 2001 and 2010, followed by Iraqis, Somalis, Congolese and Sudanese.

The United Nations has called on rich countries to share the global refugee burden, such as increasing resettlement quotas and accelerating peace initiatives to resolve protracted conflicts, as developing countries cannot continue to bear the current heavy burden of refugees. The United States and Germany are the two developed countries that have taken in the largest number of refugees, followed by Canada and Australia.

According to VNA