Figure 2.1: Countries with high numbers of IDPs and producing significant refugee flows Dem. Rep. Congo 1,553,000 2,666,000 1,854,000 779,000 2,230,000 541,000 Sudan 3,300,000 629,000 Syria 6,326,000 4,873,000 7,246,000 340,000 Afghanistan South Sudan Colombia Number of people displaced as IDPs in 2016 Refugees in 2015 Source: IDMC, with UNHCR data said they had left directly from their areas of origin, the implication being that only 10 per cent may have formerly been IDPs, refugees in other countries or another type of migrant before arriving in Europe.168 There are conceptual and methodological challenges in producing global statistics on the number of people internally displaced by conflict who eventually cross a border. The question of whether every refugee or asylum seeker should be considered an IDP from the time they flee their place of residence until they cross an international border is but one example. In addition, not all IDPs who cross international borders fit the legal definition of a refugee, are granted official status with UNHCR or seek asylum. While UNHCR also registers such people, here again there is little quantitative evidence to suggest how many may have been internally displaced first. 52 GRID 2017 Asking people the right questions is important, because not all displaced people have the same concept of their plight, or would even have considered themselves to have been internally displaced. Some may respond to survey questions in certain ways for other reasons – if, for example, they think that providing certain information may give them a better chance of securing assistance. Others may cross a border unwittingly, for example when borders are porous and poorly marked, and others still may cross knowingly but then deliberately withhold their personal information to protect themselves or to seek asylum in other countries where conditions are more favourable.