Key Statistics

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Get a picture of the current refugee crisis – from a global perspective, right down to your doorstep.

THE SCALE OF THE CRISIS

There are more than 80 million forcibly displaced people worldwide, 40% are children, and 26 million are refugees. (Source: UNHCR)
Nearly 30,000 people are forcibly displaced every day as a result of conflict or persecution. (Source: UNHCR)

WHO ARE THE REFUGEES?

2 out of 3 people displaced across borders come from just 5 countries - Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Myanmar. (Source: UNHCR)

WHERE DO THEY END UP?

Only 15% of refugees are sheltered by rich countries in the Global North - 85% are taken in by developing countries. (Source: UNHCR)
Less than 0.2% are being hosted by the UK, the 5th richest economy according to GDP figures. (Source WE Forum)
The top 5 host countries are Turkey 3.6m, Colombia 1.8m, Pakistan 1.4m, Uganda 1.4m and Germany 1.1.m (Source: UNHCR)
Lebanon, a country the size of Yorkshire, hosts the most refugees relative to their population 1, in 7. Compare that to the UK 2 in 1000 .Source UNHCR (Source: Refugee Council)

IN EUROPE

Only 6% of forcibly displaced people reached Europe in 2015. (Source: UNHCR)
In 2019, there were 27k sea arrivals into Europe of which 40% women and children (Source UN refugees.org )
In the 2nd quarter or 2020, Germany, France, Spain, and Greece accounted for almost 75% of the entire 3/4 EU first time asylum applications. (Source Eurostat)
The UK claims to have the highest number of refugees resettled in Europe, (5610 compared to 5600 of France) but it's important to note that we only have only the 5th number of asylum applications in Europe in 2019 (source European Parliament )
Some of the highest ratios of Refugees per population in Europe include
Germany GDP #1 in Europe 1.2m , 13 x per 1000 citizens, France GDP #3 in Europe hosts 407K so 6 per 1000 citizens . Source world
A number of other European countries host much than the UK per population eg. Malta (27 per 1000), Sweden (27 per 1000) , Greece & Hungary have high refugee population ratios Worldbank refugee population 1960-2019

IN THE UK

In 2020 the top countries of nationality for asylum applications were: Iran , Albania , Iraq Eritria, Pakistan  and Syria (Source Eurostat )
The UK, hosts 133K refugees according to 1960-2019 figures(Source: Worldbank ) which less than 2 per 1,000 of the population. In contrast, it is ranked 6th in the world in GDP.

There were just under 33000 asylum applications in the UK in the year ending June 2020, Source: UK Government. This is just a tiny fraction of non-EEA nationals arriving in the UK
In the last year to June 2020, the UK offered protection to between 17-20K depending on different government sources (source 1 Gov to Mar 2020 20K : Gov to June 2020 16k
In 2020, only only 800 refugees have been resettled so far, as the Global Resettlement Scheme has been halted since March, Source: UK Government

WHAT ABOUT UNACCOMPANIED CHILDREN?

At the end of 2015 there were 3,043 Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) claims in the UK (up 56% on 2014). (Source: City of Sanctuary)
9% of all UK asylum claims now come from children.
(Source: Refugee council)
Surrey is the third largest receiving county for UASC - approximately 20% of Surrey’s children in care are unaccompanied asylum seeking children. (Source: Surrey County Council)
In September 2016 there were over 150 UASC in care in Surrey and a further 150 care leavers still supported by the County Council. (Source: Surrey County Council)

Refugee Council
Facts about Refugees and Asylum Seekers

City of Sanctuary
Statistics, Facts and Figures

UNHCR Statistics
The World in Numbers

Huffington Post
25 facts about refugees