America and World’s Refugee Crisis 2006-2015


Definition of Refugee and Asylees

A refugee is a person outside his or her country of nationality who is unable or unwilling to return to his or her country of nationality because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. An asylee is a person who meets the definition of refugee and is already present in the United States or is seeking admission at a port of entry. Refugees are required to apply for Lawful Permanent Resident (“green card”) status one year after being admitted, and asylees may apply for green card status one year after their grant of asylum.


Some key facts about refugees with numbers from last few years

Source: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/12/which-country-has-hosted-the-most-refugees-this-century/


As part of this analysis I am exploring the refugeestatus data and would like to understand:














Burma(Myanmar) and its refugee problem:





Iraq and its refugee problem:

Continual violence across much of Iraq’s central and southern regions is forcing thousands of people to leave their homes every month. As a result, the international community is facing a much larger and more complex humanitarian crisis than the one aid agencies planned for during the run-up to the 2003 war. By April 2007, there were believed to be well over 4 million displaced Iraqis around the world, including some 1.9 million who were still inside Iraq, over 2 million in neighbouring Middle Eastern countries, and around 200,000 further afield. A significant proportion of these were displaced prior to 2003, but many others have fled since then. By 2006, Iraqis were once again the leading nationality seeking asylum in industrialized countries. However, some 95% of displaced Iraqis are still located in the Middle East.

The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) within Iraq rose by some 50 percent during 2006. In all, more than 730,000 new IDPs have been created by conflict and a sharp upturn in sectarian violence since the February 2006 bombing in Samarra.





Bhutan and its refugee problem:

Starting in the 19th century, ethnic Nepalis began migrating to Bhutan, settling in the southern part of the country, all the while maintaining their own language, customs, and religion. However, in the late 1970s, the growing population of ethnic Nepalis, who accounted for one-fifth of Bhutan’s population, became increasingly seen as a threat to Bhutan’s culture by the government.

By the late 1980s, Bhutan’s “one nation, one people” policy, which resulted in a series of “Bhutanisation” measures aimed at imposing a distinct national identity on all people in Bhutan, was increasingly seen by ethnic Nepalis as a direct attack on their community, resulting in mass demonstrations and unrest in southern Bhutan. By the end of 1990, the first ethnic Nepalis were forced out of the country, and within a few years, over 100,000 who had fled Bhutan were living in camps in eastern Nepal.

Years of negotiations to convince Bhutan to take back the refugees bore no fruit. Nepal also showed reluctance to relocate them on its soil, so proposals to settle them in third countries began in 2006. The first batch of refugees arrived in the US in 2007, and although countries like Canada, Norway, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Denmark, Australia, and New Zealand also took some refugees, 80,752 of the 95,361 refugees resettled as of the end of February 2015 were given shelter by the US.





Somalia and its refugee problem:

In 1991, Somalia’s President Siad Barre was overthrown, which led to an era of conflict that has never been resolved. When the state collapsed, Somalia became known as a “failed state,” one that became the empire of pirates, kidnappers and Al-Qaeda bombers.





Key takeaways from the refugee status data and high level understanding of the refugee problem

References: