Mbororo refugees from the Central African Republic wait to be registered by UNHCR mobile teams in Djalingo, Cameroon. UNHCR / F. NOY I. Introduction The 2009 Global Trends report reviews statistical trends and patterns in populations considered to be of concern to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). This can include refugees, returnees, stateless persons and certain internally displaced persons (IDPs) - collectively referred to as “persons of concern”.(1) In doing so, the report describes some of the major humanitarian developments that occurred in 2009, many of them leading to involuntary TABLE 1 Global forced displacement | 2008-2009 * movements of millions of people, both within and across borders. 2009 (in mln) 2008 (in mln) At the end of 2009, some 43.3 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced due to conflict and persecution, the highest number since the mid-1990s. This included 15.2 million refugees,(2) 27.1 million IDPs (3) and close to 1 million individuals whose asylum application had not yet been adjudicated by the end of the reporting period. Protected/ assisted by UNHCR Protected/ assisted by UNHCR Category of displaced population Total Refugees under UNHCR mandate 10.5 10.5 10.4 10.4 Refugees under UNRWA mandate 4.7 _ 4.8 _ 15.2 10.5 15.2 10.4 0.8 0.2 1.0 0.2 Conflict-generated IDPs 26.0 14.4 27.1 15.6 Total number of refugees, asylum-seekers and IDPs 42.0 25.1 43.3 26.2 Total number of refugees Asylum-seekers (pending cases) Total * Does not include natural disaster-related displacement. The total number of refugees and IDPs under UNHCR’s care remained high, standing at 26 million by end-year. While the number of refugees remained relatively stable at 10.4 million, the number of IDPs protected or assisted by UNHCR rose to an unprecedented 15.6 million. The tragic situations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Pakistan, and Somalia mainly accounted for the overall increase of 1.2 million IDPs under UNHCR’s care. In addition, UNHCR estimated that some 12 million people were stateless, with the Office having reliable statistics for some 6.6 million of them. Humanitarian crises and the prevailing political situation in a number of countries not only uprooted millions of women, men, girls and boys but prevented the return of refugees and IDPs as well. The 1 See page 23 for a definition of each population group. This figure includes 4.8 million Palestinian refugees who fall under the responsibility of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). 3 Source: Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). 2 2 2009 Global Trends