Chapter 2 Protracted refugee situations Traditionally, UNHCR defines a protracted refugee situation as one in which 25,000 or more refugees from the same nationality have been in exile for five consecutive years or more in a given host country. 30 This criterion clearly has limitations, as the refugee population in each situation changes due to new arrivals and returns that are not captured under this definition. For example, the situation of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar in Bangladesh is classified as a protracted situation because the refugee population has exceeded 25,000 every year since 2006 although the vast majority of the current refugee population from Myanmar arrived there in 2017. Thus, out of the 906,600 refugees from Myanmar present in Bangladesh at the end of 2018, about two thirds have been in the country for less than five years. The same applies to the Burundian refugees in Tanzania, the majority of whom arrived in or after 2015. Furthermore, smaller refugee situations might not be included even if the displacement is prolonged, especially if refugees from one nationality are in various countries of asylum. The characteristics of a protracted situation will be the result of multiple factors. These include conditions in the refugees’ country of origin, policy responses of and socioeconomic conditions in the host countries, availability of durable solutions and level of engagement by the international community, with some situations receiving far more attention and support than others. Protracted situations may include both camp-based and urban refugee populations. Based on the existing definition, 15.9 million refugees were in protracted situations at the end of 2018. This represented 78 per cent of all refugees, compared with 66 per cent the previous year [Figure 8]. Of this number, 5.8 million were in a situation lasting 20 years or more, dominated especially by the 2.4 million Afghan refugees in the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan where the displacement situation has lasted for 40 years. As indicated above, this does not mean that individuals have necessarily been displaced for 40 years as there may have been departures, new arrivals, births and deaths. In addition, there were 10.1 million refugees in protracted situations of less than 20 years, more than half represented by the displacement situation of Syrians in Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. In 2018, nine additional situations become protracted, where the displacement of more than 25,000 refugees extended beyond five years. These included South Sudanese refugees in Kenya, Sudan and Uganda; Nigerians in Cameroon and Niger; refugees from DRC and Somalia in South Africa; Pakistani refugees in Afghanistan; and Ukrainian refugees in the Russian Federation. Unfortunately, no protracted situations were resolved during 2018. ■ 30 Only refugees under UNHCR’s mandate are considered in this analysis, which includes Palestine refugees in Egypt but not Palestine refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, State of Palestine or Syria who are under UNRWA’s mandate. Sudan. Eritrean refugee Sherifa, 35, participates in UNHCR’s campaign against human trafficking at Shagarab refugee camp in Sudan. Sherifa, whose husband went missing, holds up a sign saying: "I need freedom and peace". © U N H C R / H uss e i n Er i 22 unhcr > Global trends 2018