Pakistan among six countries that host half of world's refugee population

About half of the world’s 26 million refugees are hosted by just six countries—Turkey, Jordan, West Bank and Gaza, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Uganda, as per a newly released UNHCR report and World Bank estimates.

The report says the number of refugees globally rose to 25.9 million in 2018, up from 25.4 million in 2017, and setting a new record.

Since 2011, the number of people seeking international protection outside of their country of origin has increased by 70%.

Countries producing the largest numbers of refugees include (in order) the Syrian Arab Republic, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar, Somalia, and Sudan. More than half (56%) of the world’s refugees in 2018 came from these six countries. The number of refugees from Syria, South Sudan, and Myanmar has increased rapidly over the last couple of years, the report points out.

The majority of them live in countries neighboring their countries of origin. About half of the world’s 26 million refugees are hosted by just six countries—Turkey, Jordan, West Bank and Gaza, Lebanon, Pakistan, and Uganda.

Among the regions of the world, the Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe and Central Asia, and South Asia host the largest numbers of refugees. The majority of hosts are low- and middle-income countries, the World Bank report says.