CHAPTER 1 Number of people newly displaced per minute Figure 2 | Newly displaced persons per minute | 2003 - 2016 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Similarly, the refugee population from Burundi increased by 39 per cent during 2016 while the IDP population in that country quadrupled to 141,200 people. Conflict and violence also continued in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Ukraine, and Yemen, leading to new displacements and inhibiting returns. Around half of refugees were children in 2016. Without the protection of family or kin, unaccompanied and separated children are particularly at risk of exploitation and abuse. The number of such children who were reported as having applied for asylum reached 75,000 during the year, although this number is considered to be an underestimate.12 In 2016, the South Sudanese refugee crisis was the fastest growing in the world.11 The large number of infants, children, and pregnant women among the South Sudanese refugees made the humanitarian response particularly challenging. South Sudan and the neighbouring countries are among the poorest and least developed countries in the world, with limited resources to deal with the needs and challenges associated with hosting displaced people. In 2016, more refugees and IDPs returned to their countries or areas of origin than in 2015. Some half a million refugees returned to their countries of origin in 2016, the majority to Afghanistan, Somalia and Sudan, compared with 201,400 in 2015, but these numbers remained low at only 3 per cent of the overall refugee population. About 6.5 million IDPs returned to their areas of origin, representing 18 per cent of the population. However, the context in which many displaced people returned was complex, leading to concerns that many returns may not be sustainable. Resettlement provided a solution for 189,300 refugees. Although most refugees remained close to home, some moved further afield, often seeking international protection in a small number of countries. In 2015 and 2016, many people risked their lives to cross the Mediterranean Sea in search of safety and protection. As a result, some countries in Europe experienced an increase in their refugee and asylum-seeker population. In Germany, this population rose to 1.3 million people by the end of 2016, while in Sweden it reached 313,300. UNHCR > GLOBAL TRENDS 2016 11 Operational data show this trend has continued in 2017. See: http://data.unhcr.org/SouthSudan/regional.php. 12 The estimate does not include data from all countries, including three important asylum countries: the Russian Federation, South Africa, and the United States of America. Furthermore, UNHCR’s data compile asylum applications on an annual basis. They do not include unaccompanied and separated children who are recognized as refugees, nor do they reflect total numbers of both asylum-seeking and refugee unaccompanied and separated children. 7