In 1967, the UN Convention was expanded - whereas previously it regulated the treatment of European refugees only (it was adopted after the end of World War II), from 1967 the Convention became universal, and people from all over the world fell under its purview. Many regional legislative acts and laws of individual countries were adopted based on these documents. Today, the vast majority of states in the world have ratified the Convention on the Status of Refugees.
The fundamental difference between refugees and economic migrants is as follows: migrants leave their homeland voluntarily, usually in search of a better life. Refugees are forced to leave due to insurmountable problems.
Most countries interpret the term "refugee" in their own way. It is generally accepted that people who have committed serious (non-political) crimes cannot claim this status. As a rule, a person who leaves their country due to natural disasters (for example, after devastating floods or earthquakes) is not recognized as a refugee. Some states drastically tighten their immigration laws, as a result of which they may treat refugees as illegal violators of the state border. In some states, for example, Australia, people seeking asylum are placed in special centers until the issue is resolved, where they await their fate. 17 states (including the United States and Great Britain) set annual quotas for the admission of refugees. Due to the vagueness of the laws, many migrants (exact statistics unknown) try to pass themselves off as refugees. For example, the U.S. State Department in 2006 published a report on the admission of refugees, which indicated that a "significant number" of residents of West Africa falsify information to obtain this status and move to the United States.
Countries in which refugees find themselves must provide them with roughly the same rights (with few exceptions) as their own citizens - for example, protection, access to education, work, housing, the justice system, etc. At the same time, in many cases (for example, during the conflict in Yugoslavia), neighboring countries do not grant all fugitives refugee status, but guarantee them only "temporary asylum." In many cases, the situation of refugees is extremely serious - it is difficult or even impossible for them to obtain work and means of subsistence. This most often occurs in poor countries that do not have the resources to support refugees and rely only on the assistance of international donors.
The UN Convention assumes that the optimal solution to the refugee problem is their return to their homeland, but only if the situation in their country allows it. Forced return is prohibited by international law, although such situations (for example, forced deportations) occur periodically.
In 2006, between 8.6 million (estimated by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees) and 11.2 million (data from the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants) people were refugees or sought asylum in other countries. Almost 8 million of them had been in this situation for more than five years. In recent decades, the number of refugees has remained quite significant: for example, in 1997 there were 13.6 million, in 2000 - 14.5 million, in 2003 - 11.9 million.
According to the UN, as of December 31, 2005, the largest number of refugees and persons seeking refugee status were in the Middle East (over 4.85 million people, mostly Palestinians - 4.3 million), Africa (almost 3.2 million), South and Central Asia (1.95 million). In the Asia-Pacific region there were over 1 million, in Europe - 530 thousand, in South and North America - 475 thousand.
In particular, 176 thousand people were in the United States (here and below, not only persons officially recognized as refugees are counted, but also those resettled and trying to obtain this status). Most moved to the United States from Haiti, Cuba, China, Colombia, and Somalia. In addition, there were 8.6 thousand refugees from Russia, 3.6 thousand refugees from Ukraine, and 2 thousand refugees from Armenia in the United States.
In Armenia there were 11.3 thousand refugees (mostly from Azerbaijan), in Azerbaijan - 3.3 thousand (mostly from Russia), in Belarus - 2.7 thousand (mostly from Afghanistan), in Georgia - 2.5 thousand (all from Russia), in Russia - 149 thousand (the largest number from Afghanistan and Georgia), in Ukraine - 4 thousand, in Kazakhstan - 7.3 thousand (two-thirds from Russia), in Kyrgyzstan - 3.1 thousand (mostly from Tajikistan), in Tajikistan - 2.6 thousand (all from Afghanistan), in Turkmenistan - 12 thousand (mostly from Tajikistan), in Uzbekistan - 44.5 thousand (mostly from Tajikistan and Afghanistan).
The process of refugee migration is moving in two directions. On the one hand, refugees often return to their homeland: one of the largest returns was recorded in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime. Similar processes in recent years have been experienced by Liberia, Burundi, and Angola. On the other hand, in recent years the number of refugees leaving Iraq, Somalia, Sudan, and Togo has sharply increased.
Most refugees are hosted by the poorest countries in the world. This paradox is explained by the fact that people fleeing wars, famine, natural disasters, political persecution, etc., usually try to find asylum in neighboring countries. For example, as of 2005 (more recent data unavailable), 74% of refugees lived in poor countries with an annual per capita income of less than $2,000; 22% in middle-income countries ($2,000 to $10,000 per year) and only 4% in rich countries. In 2005, the largest number of refugees were admitted - that is, given permanent resident status and the opportunity to obtain new citizenship - by the United States (approximately two-thirds of all refugees admitted by industrialized states), Australia, Canada, Norway, and Sweden.
In many countries, refugees constitute a significant portion of the population. For example, every tenth resident of Jordan and every thirteenth resident of Lebanon is a refugee. For Iran, this ratio is 1 refugee to 70 permanent residents, for Saudi Arabia – 1 to 102, for Venezuela – 1 to 148, for Canada – 1 to 185, for Germany – 1 to 1,332, for the USA – 1 to 1,667, for the European Union – 1 to 2,006, for France – 1 to 2,380, for Spain – 1 to 27,188, for Japan – 1 to 49,115.
Three officially recognized by all world states structures provide assistance to refugees: the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. Only Palestinians are guaranteed to receive international aid - there is a separate line item in the UN budget. Other refugees are funded through donations from individual states, humanitarian organizations, or private individuals.
The distribution of funds is very uneven. For example, it has been calculated that in 1999 the UN spent $207 on each refugee from Kosovo, $16 on a refugee from Sierra Leone, and only $8 on a refugee from Congo.
In 2005, the largest funds for refugee assistance were allocated by the USA ($600.6 million), the European Commission ($251.7 million), Sweden ($132.4 million), Japan ($125.9 million), and the Netherlands ($116.9 million). Per capita, the most generous to refugees were residents of Luxembourg (with $19.4 per resident directed to refugee assistance), Norway ($18.2), Sweden ($14.7), Denmark ($12.6), and the Netherlands ($7.17).
Based on materials from Washington ProFile.