Regions of origin

Over the past two years, major flows of refugees have originated from African countries, particularly from Sudan, Somalia, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Most of these refugees move to neighbouring African countries. Eastern Africa is the second largest host region of refugees in the world.

Afghanistan remains by far the largest country of origin of refugees, accounting for 23% of the current global refugee population. However, more than 4 million Afghanis have voluntarily returned home in the last five years. A growing number of refugees are fleeing political persecution in China, heading mainly to India, the US, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands.

Latin America produces relatively few refugees, with the signifcant exception of people fleeing politcal instability and violence in Colombia over the past five years. Most Colombians have sought refuge in neighbouring countries as well as in the U.S. and Canada, whereas only a minority have fled to Europe - mainly to Spain.

Most asylum seekers from this region flee from the political instability in the Palestinian Territory and Iraq. Their main country of asylum is Iran, followed by a few European countries, mainly Germany, Netherlands, UK and Sweden.

The resurgence of civil war and human rights abuses in Chechnya has led to a rise in asylum claims by Russian-Chechen citizens in neighbouring European countries. In the last five years, the number of asylum seekers from Belarus has also dramatically increased, due to human rights abuses perpetrated against the political opposition to the government. Political instability has also contributed to a rise in the number of asylum seekers from Ukraine heading mainly for Germany and the US.

The dissolution of former Yugoslavia in the 1990s was responsible for major refugee movements to neighbouring countries, particularly Germany and Austria. Since the resolution of the conflict, refugees have been gradually returning to their homes in Bosnia-Herzogovina, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, while the number of fresh asylum applications from this region has been consistently decreasing.