Chapter 2
PROTRACTED REFUGEE SITUATIONS
UNHCR defines a protracted refugee situation
as one in which 25,000 or more refugees from
the same nationality have been in exile for at
least five consecutive years in a given host
country. 33 This method, while useful for
advocacy and monitoring purposes, carries
some important statistical limitations. As long as
a group of refugees from the same nationality
does not reach or exceed the threshold of
25,000 for five consecutive years, it will not
feature as protracted irrespective of the group’s
duration in exile. In addition, returns or new
arrivals of individuals from the same nationality
within the same period may remain unaccounted
for in this method as they may offset each other.
Therefore, the circumstances of individual
refugees are not captured in this definition.
These limitations notwithstanding, estimating the
number of refugees remaining in long-term exile
is crucial from a protection and solutions
perspective. Based on this definition, it is
estimated that some 15.7 million refugees (77%)
were in a protracted situation by the end of 2019,
slightly fewer than a year earlier (15.9 million).
These 15.7 million refugees were living in 32 host
countries, constituting an overall total of 51
protracted situations. Figures include the longlasting refugee situation of Afghans in Pakistan
and the Islamic Republic of Iran as well more
recent situations like that of South Sudanese
refugees in Kenya, Sudan and Uganda.
In 2019, the situation of Burundian refugees in
Rwanda and Uganda also became protracted.
Unfortunately, no protracted situations were
resolved during 2019.
33 Excludes Palestine refugees under UNRWA’s mandate.
Figure 11 | Hosting people displaced across borders by income level | end-year
19%
46%
22%
34%
23%
32%
26%
26%
19%
18%
18%
2010
2011
2012
16%
High
24
22%
20%
22%
24%
25%
22%
38%
41%
40%
42%
14%
13%
15%
14%
2013
2014
2015
2016
23%
25%
Upper-middle
Lower-middle
20%
19%
22%
21%
42%
44%
15%
16%
17%
2017
2018
2019
22%
29%
35%
Low
UNHCR > GLOBAL TRENDS 2019