Notes
The data are generally provided by Governments, based on their own definitions
and methods of data collection.
A dash ("-") indicates that the value is zero, not available or not applicable. All data
are provisional and subject to change.
1
Country or territory of asylum or residence.
2
Persons recognized as refugees under the 1951 UN Convention/1967 Protocol,
the 1969 OAU Convention, in accordance with the UNHCR Statute, persons
granted a complementary form of protection and those granted temporary
protection. In the absence of Government figures, UNHCR has estimated
the refugee population in many industrialized countries based on 10 years of
individual asylum-seeker recognition.
3
This category is descriptive in nature and includes groups of persons who are
outside their country or territory of origin and who face protection risks similar
to those of refugees, but for whom refugee status has, for practical or other
reasons, not been ascertained.
4
Persons whose application for asylum or refugee status is pending at any
stage in the asylum procedure.
5
Refugees who have returned to their place of origin during 2015. Source:
country of origin and asylum.
6
Persons who are displaced within their country and to whom UNHCR extends
protection and/or assistance. It also includes people in IDP-like situations.
This category is descriptive in nature and includes groups of persons who
are inside their country of nationality or habitual residence and who face
protection risks similar to those of IDPs but who, for practical or other reasons,
could not be reported as such.
7
IDPs protected/assisted by UNHCR who have returned to their place of origin
during 2015.
8
Refers to persons who are not considered as nationals by any State under
the operation of its law. This category refers to persons who fall under the
agency’s statelessness mandate because they are stateless according to
this international definition, but data from some countries may also include
persons with undetermined nationality. See Annex Table 7 at http://www.
unhcr.org/statistics/15-WRD-table-7.xls for detailed notes.
9
Refers to individuals who do not necessarily fall directly into any of the other
groups but to whom UNHCR may extend its protection and/or assistance
services. These activities might be based on humanitarian or other special
grounds.
10 According to the Government of Algeria, there are an estimated 165,000
Sahrawi refugees in the Tindouf camps.
11 Australia's figures for asylum-seekers are based on the number of applications
lodged for protection visas.
12 The refugee population includes 200,000 persons originating from Myanmar
in a refugee-like situation. The Government of Bangladesh estimates the
population to be between 300,000 and 500,000.
13 The 300,000 Vietnamese refugees are well integrated and in practice receive
protection from the Government of China.
14 UNHCR's assistance activities for IDPs in Cyprus ended in 1999. Visit the
website of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) for further
information.
15 The number of Rwandan refugees in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
is subject to change based on an ongoing registration exercise. The figure
245,000 was provided by the Government of Democratic Republic of the
Congo.
16 This revised estimate of 133,770 stateless persons includes only individuals
born in the country to parents who were both born abroad, It does not include
individuals born in the country to one foreign-born and one Dominican-born
parent, as per the previously reported figure of 210,000. This estimate does
not include subsequent generations of individuals of foreign descent, as there
is no reliable population data available on groups other than first-generation
individuals. As such, this estimate does not include all persons without
nationality in the country. It will be adjusted as official data becomes available
on the number of individuals who have found an effective nationality solution.
17 All figures relate to the end of 2014 except refugees.
18 Almost all people recorded as being stateless have permanent residence and
enjoy more rights than foreseen in the 1954 Convention relating to the Status
of Stateless Persons.
19 Refugee figure relates to the end of 2014.
20 Figure of stateless persons refers to individuals without a nationality who were
born in the Dominican Republic prior to January 2010 and who were identified
by UNHCR in Haiti during the reporting period.
21 Pending a more accurate study into stateless in Iraq, the estimate of stateless
persons in Iraq has been adjusted to reflect the reduction of statelessness
in line with Law 26 of 2006, which allows stateless persons to apply for
nationality in certain circumstances.
22 Figures are UNHCR estimates.
23 Includes 33,200 Iraqi refugees registered with UNHCR in Jordan. The
Government estimated the number of Iraqis at 400,000 individuals at the end
of March 2015. This includes refugees and other categories of Iraqis.
24 This figure includes persons covered by two separate Laws. 178 fall under the
Republic of Latvia’s Law on Stateless Persons on 17 February 2004, which
replaced the Law on the Status of Stateless Persons in the Republic of Latvia
of 18 February 1999, and which determines the legal status of persons who
are not considered as citizens by the legislation of any State and whose status
is not determined by the 25th April 1995 Law (quoted below). 252,017 of
the persons reported in this table fall under the Republic of Latvia’s 25 April
1995 Law on the Status of Those Former USSR Citizens who are not Citizens
of Latvia or of Any Other State, and are granted a transitional legal status to
permanently residing persons (non-citizens) which entitles them to a set of
rights and obligations generally beyond the minimum rights prescribed by the
1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. The non-citizens
enjoy the right to reside in Latvia ex lege and the right to acquire citizenship
through registration and/or naturalisation (depending on age). A number
of measures have been taken by the Latvian Government to facilitate their
acquisition of citizenship; nonetheless, some non-citizens have chosen not
to pursue naturalization. Some may have acquired a nationality other than
Latvian nationality; however in the absence of reliable data in this regard,
UNHCR includes in its statistical reporting the full number of non-citizens
reported by Latvia.
25 Figure of Stateless persons was estimated from the 2014 census. It does not
include an estimated 151,921 stateless IDPs, persons in an IDP-like situation
who are also of concern under the statelessness mandate because they are
already included within the figures on IDPs.In Rakhine State it is estimated to
be approximately one million.
26 Various studies estimate that a large number of individuals lack citizenship
certificates in Nepal. While these individuals are not all necessarily stateless,
UNHCR has been working closely with the Government of Nepal and partners
to address this situation.
27 Refugee figure relates to the end of 2014.
28 All figures relate to the end of 2014.
29 Figure of Stateless persons refers to the census figure from 2010 adjusted to
reflect the number of stateless persons who acquired nationality in 20112015. The figure includes 12,881 stateless persons holding a temporary or a
permanent residence permit.
30 An adjustment to 2014 end of year figures in particular for the number
of asylum applications pending on appeal and review has resulted in a
substantially higher figure for numbers of asylum seekers reported in South
Africa for 2015. It should be noted that the current legal framework in South
Africa does not enable the withdrawal (whether explicit or implicit) of asylum
applications lodged.
31 IDP figure in South Sudan includes 105,000 people who are in an IDP-like
situation.
32 Refugee figure relates to the end of 2014.
33 The statistics of the remaining IDPs at the end of the year, while provided by
the Government authorities at the district level, are being reviewed by the
central authorities. Once this review has been concluded, the statistics will be
changed accordingly.
34 Refugee figure for Iraqis and Stateless persons in the Syrian Arab Republic
was a Government estimate. UNHCR has registered and is assisting 18,300
Iraqis at the end of 2015.
35 Figure of Stateless persons is Updated from the Royal Thai Government. The
decrease includes the grant of Thai nationality to over 18,000 stateless people
in the last three years.
36 Refugee figure for Syrians in Turkey was a Government estimate.
37 IDP figure in Ukraine includes 800,000 people who are in an IDP-like situation.
38 The refugee figure for the United States of America is currently under review,
which may lead to an adjustment in future reports.
39 Figure of stateless persons refers to those with permanent residence reported
in 2010 by the Government. Information on other categories of stateless
persons is not available.
40 Figure of stateless persons is an estimate and currently under review.
Source: UNHCR/Governments.
UNHCR Global Trends 2015 61
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