Chapter 1 have devastating effects on the civilian population.36 Nearly 856,800 Ukrainians were granted international protection in 2024, most receiving temporary protection in countries in the European Union.37 In Europe, more than 5 million Ukrainian refugees were reported at end-2024.38 resettlement and the local integration of refugees42 all increased during 2024 (see figure 2). However, underlying these positive trends with each solution are concerns about the inherent protection risks to forcibly displaced people and the longer-term sustainability of these solutions. There were 10 per cent fewer Afghan refugees reported at the end of the year (5.8 million). The Islamic Republic of Iran (3.5 million, -7 per cent) and Pakistan (1.6 million, -22 per cent) remained the largest host countries. The decreases in Pakistan reflect downwards adjustments to the estimated number of people remaining in a refugee-like situation.39 The lower figures in both countries also reflect returns to Afghanistan, including through deportation.40 Both countries enacted policies to remove undocumented foreigners.41 While active fighting has largely ceased in Afghanistan following the Taliban takeover in 2021, poverty and hunger are widespread within the country, infrastructure and services remain inadequate, and civil liberties, especially for women and girls, have been progressively and severely restricted. The scale of returns has exacerbated Afghanistan’s ongoing humanitarian crisis, further straining scarce resources and hindering a dignified and sustainable reintegration of the returning refugees. Refugee returns reported in 2024 were the highest for more than two decades. For most refugees, returning home remains the preferred solution to their displacement situation. However it is essential that returns remain voluntary and take place in safety and dignity. As laid out in the fourth objective of the Global Compact on Refugees, for returns to be sustainable, especially on a large-scale, conditions in the countries of origin need to have improved sufficiently to support their reintegration. Lasting peace, or at least a cessation of fighting, is paramount.43 In the past year, 92 per cent of the 1.6 million returns were to only four countries: Afghanistan, Syria, South Sudan and Ukraine. Many Afghans, Syrians and South Sudanese have returned in adverse conditions and arrived in extremely fragile situations. In Ukraine, despite the war entering its fourth year, many vulnerable refugees have chosen to return partly due to challenges in accessing rights and services in host countries.44 In Afghanistan, returnees have arrived in a country gripped with pervasive poverty, soaring unemployment, severely inadequate public services and widespread food insecurity.45 For women and girls, returns are especially difficult, as they return to an environment where their basic rights, including the right to education, to freedom of movement and the right of expression, are being systematically eroded. Solutions for forced displacement rose in 2024 Solutions for refugees and internally displaced people, including refugee and IDP returns, refugee 36 See Ukraine Situation: Three Years On, UNHCR. 37 See footnote 19. 38 See footnote 18. In addition, since February 2022, a number of Ukrainians have reached countries beyond Europe, where they are staying under various legal statuses. See UNHCR’s Ukraine Situation Operational Data Portal for up-to date statistics of refugees from Ukraine recorded in Europe and beyond. 39 During 2024, 143,900 Afghans with family ties to registered refugees were reported as refugees and an additional 108,300 people in a refugee-like situation were registered as asylum-seekers. The number of Afghans estimated to remain in Pakistan at end-2024 was revised downwards by 190,200. 40 Total returns refer to all types of returns, including deportations, assisted voluntary repatriation and other returns of Afghans of all statuses in Pakistan, including undocumented Afghans. See the Afghanistan situation overview, UNHCR. 41 In October 2023, the Government of Pakistan announced a new ‘Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan’, unveiling a scheme to expel all undocumented foreigners. On 23 February 2025, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran announced that headcount slips will not be extended beyond 20 March 2025. After this date, the headcount slip holders are treated as individuals holding the same documentation status as undocumented foreigners and with no access to healthcare, medical services, real estate transactions and other public services, marking a significant shift from previous policies toward Afghans. 42 A durable solution for refugees that involves their permanent settlement in a host country. Local integration is a complex and gradual process, comprising three distinct but interrelated dimensions: legal, economic, and socio-cultural. The process is often concluded with the naturalization of the refugee. See the master glossary of terms, UNHCR. 43 Key objective 4: Support conditions in countries of origin for return in safety and dignity. See The Global Compact on Refugees, UNHCR. 44 See The situation of vulnerable refugees from Ukraine, UNHCR. 45 See Returns to Afghanistan, UNHCR. 10 UNHCR > GLOBAL TRENDS 2024