Fewer refugees today than in 80s

OPINION

In the 1990s, more refugees fled the Congo, Iraq and the Rwanda genocide than flee Middle East countries today. UN figures show that the rate of refugee migration has remained almost stable for 50 years.

Latest figures show 5.3 million refugees and displaced people come from three countries: Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia.

The civil war in Syria has resulted in 2.5 million Syrians fleeing to Turkey, over a million to Lebanon, and more than 600,000 to Jordan. One and a half million Afghanis have fled to Pakistan, and nearly a million more to Iran. Most Somali refugees escape to neighbouring Ethiopia and Kenya.

Almost all Syrians, Afghanis and Somalis escape to neighbouring countries, and only a trickle to Europe and the United States.

Apart from these three countries, vast numbers flee the Sudan, the Central African Republic, Mali, Colombia, Ukraine, Nigeria, Myanmar, Congo, Eritrea, Vietnam, Burundi and Ivory Coast.

British analyst Declan Butler writes in Nature that Europeans and Americans have misread recent figures, fearing that vast numbers of refugees are arriving on their doorsteps. But Europe and the US get off very lightly.

This needless fear has produced dramatic effects, helping to sway the Brexit vote and contributing to President Donald Trump’s election. Butler thinks the European and American attitudes tell us more about moral panic than about the refugee reality.

New Zealand is one of 63 countries working under the wing of the United Nations High Commission for Refugee Resettlement. Every three years our ministers of migration and foreign affairs review our annual quota, which currently stands at 750 refugees a year.

Each refugee must meet certain criteria – such as health, working age, education, credibility, risk, and competence in the English language. Successful foreigners must spend six weeks at the Mangere Refugee Resettlement