global THE REFUGEE CRISIS
NEARLY nine in every 10 refugees are hosted in poorer countries, research from the United Nations has found. A refugee is someone who has fled their own country because they are at risk of persecution, war, or violence.
They may have also fear persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group.
Figures from the United Nations (UN) show two-thirds of all refugees come from just five countries - including Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar and Somalia.
While an estimated 121,766 of these refugees have come to the UK, that is a tiny number compared to our population.
In fact, a UN report found that 85% of all refugees are hosted in developing countries.
Nearly a third of Jordan’s population are refugees - 29.9%, the highest rate in the world.
That is followed by Lebanon (24.1%), Nauru (6.9%), Turkey (4.3%) and Uganda (3.2%).
In the UK, meanwhile, just 0.2% of the population is a refugee.
Even closer to home, the number of refugees per head in Sweden is more than 10 times higher than it is in the UK, working out as 2.4% of the population.
That is the highest proportion out of any Western country, followed by Malta (1.7%), Austria (1.3%), and Germany (1.2%).
In France and Italy refugees make up 0.5% and 0.2% of the population respectively.
The charity Amnesty International says that :“The international community, and in particular wealthy nations, are failing to meaningfully share the responsibility for protecting people who have fled their homes in search of safety.
“In other words, they are failing to agree on and support a fair and predictable system for protecting people forced to leave everything behind because of violence and persecution. “Instead, lower and middle-income countries are doing much more than ONLY A TINY PERCENTAGE OF THE WORLD’S REFUGEES ARE IN THE UK - MOST ARE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES their fair share.
“The international community, and in particular wealthy nations, are failing to meaningfully share the responsibility for protecting people who have fled their homes in search of safety.”
Laura Padoan, external relations officer for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said: “The vast majority of refugees find sanctuary in the first safe country they reach, which is mostly just across the border from their own country.
“In the UK, the number claiming asylum in 2018 was 28,000, a figure that has remained relatively stable and is modest compared to other countries in Europe, the Middle East or Africa hosting large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers over the last few years. “Geographically, the UK is difficult and dangerous to get to. “UNHCR believes that more safe, legal routes, such as resettlement or family reunion, are required so that those in need of international protection do not have to risk their lives to find it.”