The UN refugee agency issued a fresh report ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20. In it, the UNHCR said 2011 produced the most new refugees since 2000, although a near-record number of displaced people also returned to their homes during the same period.
Refugees Around The World
![The UNHCR says that 42.5 million people ended 2011 either as refugees (15.2 million), internally dispaced (26.4 million), or seeking asylum (895,000).](https://gdb.rferl.org/c831e192-7c46-4312-be3f-fc2c5ea9f61d_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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The UNHCR says that 42.5 million people ended 2011 either as refugees (15.2 million), internally dispaced (26.4 million), or seeking asylum (895,000).
![Red Crescent of the United Arab Emirates employees construct a new camp to shelter refugees who fled Libya in March 2011.](https://gdb.rferl.org/33a3e8f6-120e-482e-af9b-8a9577e7a558_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Red Crescent of the United Arab Emirates employees construct a new camp to shelter refugees who fled Libya in March 2011.
![Internally displaced persons at a settlement facility in Tbilisi, Georgia, in August 2011.](https://gdb.rferl.org/dd141bdd-45d0-4c03-ae6d-db35b4a5a57e_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Internally displaced persons at a settlement facility in Tbilisi, Georgia, in August 2011.
![Fatima, an Afghan immigrant, carries food donated by activists from a soup kitchen in a poor neighborhood in Athens, Greece.](https://gdb.rferl.org/94badc6e-c048-4cf8-81d5-1c8c695913db_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Fatima, an Afghan immigrant, carries food donated by activists from a soup kitchen in a poor neighborhood in Athens, Greece.
![Refugees hoping to enter Europe's Schengen Area take shelter on the outskirts of Subotica, Serbia, near the Hungarian border, in September 2011.](https://gdb.rferl.org/c8793968-0e92-4b2f-b188-28efb2798321_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Refugees hoping to enter Europe's Schengen Area take shelter on the outskirts of Subotica, Serbia, near the Hungarian border, in September 2011.
![Afghanistan is the biggest source of refugees, with 2.7 million of its people abroad in places like Iran and Pakistan (seen here).](https://gdb.rferl.org/697ac53a-356d-40c8-9c9a-12a52765f259_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Afghanistan is the biggest source of refugees, with 2.7 million of its people abroad in places like Iran and Pakistan (seen here).
![A UNHCR employee scans the eye of an Afghan at a refugee registration center outside Peshawar, Pakistan in June 2011.](https://gdb.rferl.org/6c6ef9f1-8faa-4f71-bd35-1db0603465ed_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A UNHCR employee scans the eye of an Afghan at a refugee registration center outside Peshawar, Pakistan in June 2011.
![A near-record 3.2 million people returned to their homes in 2011, the UN says. This Afghan woman, seen at a registration center in Herat, was repatriated from Iran.](https://gdb.rferl.org/94b70cb0-428b-49db-841d-b684911ad78f_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A near-record 3.2 million people returned to their homes in 2011, the UN says. This Afghan woman, seen at a registration center in Herat, was repatriated from Iran.
![An Afghan infant is held by its mother as they wait to go back to Afghanistan from a UN-funded repatriation center in Pakistan.](https://gdb.rferl.org/9b277de3-1da6-4fa6-9c1a-4f8471393490_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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An Afghan infant is held by its mother as they wait to go back to Afghanistan from a UN-funded repatriation center in Pakistan.
![Syrian refugees stroll at the Islahiye refugee camp in Gaziantep, Turkey.](https://gdb.rferl.org/7c618e34-1045-4b61-878a-6012a47a9b0b_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Syrian refugees stroll at the Islahiye refugee camp in Gaziantep, Turkey.
![The UNHCR warns in its new "Global Trends Report" that "a person who becomes a refugee is likely to remain as one for many years -- often stuck in a camp or living precariously in an urban location."](https://gdb.rferl.org/9dd1693e-8713-4255-a6a3-2d89eca13824_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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The UNHCR warns in its new "Global Trends Report" that "a person who becomes a refugee is likely to remain as one for many years -- often stuck in a camp or living precariously in an urban location."
![A refugee at the entrance of her home in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Of the 10.4 million refugees for which the UNHCR is responsible, more than 7 million have been refugees for more than five years.](https://gdb.rferl.org/2fb8245b-0d48-416b-b569-3add3f115497_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A refugee at the entrance of her home in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Of the 10.4 million refugees for which the UNHCR is responsible, more than 7 million have been refugees for more than five years.
![Refugee boys from Myanmar look for items to salvage from the ruins of a burned mosque in the Um-Piam refugee camp after fire engulfed part of it near Mae Sot in February 2012.](https://gdb.rferl.org/f9e1a6c0-c2d6-4fe9-92d8-637abd6fcd82_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Refugee boys from Myanmar look for items to salvage from the ruins of a burned mosque in the Um-Piam refugee camp after fire engulfed part of it near Mae Sot in February 2012.
![Syrian boys walk shoulder-to-shoulder in the rain at the Boynuyogun refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border.](https://gdb.rferl.org/af2ef505-0626-465d-9b92-e8337b952d12_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Syrian boys walk shoulder-to-shoulder in the rain at the Boynuyogun refugee camp on the Turkish-Syrian border.
![Afghan women and children at a UNHCR registration center in Pakistan. Nearly 26 million displaced people were receiving protection or assistance from the UN's refugee agency by the end of 2011.](https://gdb.rferl.org/ee632ddf-3868-49b2-9fbf-76eef63b94b5_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Afghan women and children at a UNHCR registration center in Pakistan. Nearly 26 million displaced people were receiving protection or assistance from the UN's refugee agency by the end of 2011.
![A camp of Syrian refugees in Dohuk, Turkey. Developing countries host four-fifths of the world's refugees, according to the UNHCR.](https://gdb.rferl.org/02f423ff-05e0-4431-9ea4-bc19b599e02f_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A camp of Syrian refugees in Dohuk, Turkey. Developing countries host four-fifths of the world's refugees, according to the UNHCR.
![A young Syrian refugee flashes the "peace" sign from behind a fence at a refugee camp in Yayladagi, Turkey.](https://gdb.rferl.org/b8b6c90e-0f08-4f2b-a5cc-25a7a1820651_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A young Syrian refugee flashes the "peace" sign from behind a fence at a refugee camp in Yayladagi, Turkey.
![Refugees who were recently deported from Iran stand near temporary shelters in Herat, western Afghanistan, in November 2011. The UNHCR says there are Afghan refugees in 79 countries.](https://gdb.rferl.org/cb8c5357-e064-4c56-8280-00189808deee_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Refugees who were recently deported from Iran stand near temporary shelters in Herat, western Afghanistan, in November 2011. The UNHCR says there are Afghan refugees in 79 countries.
![A man answers questions for census takers in the village of Madzharka in the separatist Georgian region of Abkhazia in February 2011.](https://gdb.rferl.org/93a46f25-f13d-4cff-a035-ce4ec9b85838_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A man answers questions for census takers in the village of Madzharka in the separatist Georgian region of Abkhazia in February 2011.
![Afghan children at a refugee camp in Kabul on World Refugee Day 2011.](https://gdb.rferl.org/cded000d-1da6-41dd-8199-d8bf9f0bcae4_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Afghan children at a refugee camp in Kabul on World Refugee Day 2011.
![Egyptian refugees fleeing violence in Libya line up to be processed at a refugee camp after crossing into Tunisia near the border crossing of Ras Jdir in February 2011.](https://gdb.rferl.org/d02238f9-6637-4420-b9d5-9a9862747028_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Egyptian refugees fleeing violence in Libya line up to be processed at a refugee camp after crossing into Tunisia near the border crossing of Ras Jdir in February 2011.
![A man who fled Libya waits at the border between Libya and Tunisia in March 2011.](https://gdb.rferl.org/6029465d-b4b4-4681-8b17-2d15c985733d_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A man who fled Libya waits at the border between Libya and Tunisia in March 2011.
![A Syrian woman hangs laundry out to dry at the Boynuyogun Red Crescent refugee camp in the Altinozu district of Hatay, in southern Turkey.](https://gdb.rferl.org/bb535fb9-917a-4d21-9302-33fdc124e75e_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A Syrian woman hangs laundry out to dry at the Boynuyogun Red Crescent refugee camp in the Altinozu district of Hatay, in southern Turkey.