10 Countries That Have The Most Refugees

Most of us take the world we live in for granted, all the privileges we enjoy without even considering them to be something out of the ordinary, like safety, education, freedom of expression and so on, but there are millions out there who live as refugees far away from home in places such as these 10 countries that have the most refugees.

It’s a difficult situation to understand – living in a place that’s so bad that you would rather uproot your entire life just to be able to have a life. Whether that’s due to war or political instability or any other type of crisis, it doesn’t really matter in the end because the result is the same – millions of people fleeing their native lands in order to stay safe.

The UN Refugee Agency counts over 65.3 million people that were forcibly displaced across the world. The number is composed of 21.3 million people who were straight out refugees, 40.8 million people who were internally displaced and 3.2 million asylum seekers. The numbers round up 2015 and tell a story that’s getting darker and darker since there were 5.8 million people more on the list than there were at the end of 2014.

Considering everything that’s happened in 2016 thus far and the number of refugees reaching the gates of Europe, when the UN stops counting at the end of the year, we’re going to see a much worse number.

“The global population of forcibly displaced people today is larger than the entire population of the United Kingdom. If they were a country, the forcibly displaced would be the 21^st largest in the world,” the UN’s report reads. Not only has the number doubled over the past decade, but it also continues to grow as more and more people flee in the face of danger, families run together trying to find a new place to set roots to give their children a better life. Over the past year alone there have been hundreds upon hundreds of deaths as boats carrying refugees overturned, making it clear to everyone that these people aren’t putting their lives in danger because the places they left behind were a dream to live in. And neither they are going to some amazing places like the Most Charitable Countries in the World.

Where do these people come from? Well, between 2014 and 2015, the United Nation notes that the number one source of refugees is Syria, followed by Afghanistan. Then comes Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Congo, Central African Republic, Myanmar, Eritrea, and Columbia.

While the situation in Syria and Afghanistan is fairly well known, the crisis taking place in the other occupants of the list of countries that have the most refugees aren’t that popular in the media. In South Sudan, for instance, there’s a humanitarian crisis due as a fallout of the power battle taking place there. In Congo, there’s widespread violence and horrible abuses of human rights. The list goes on and on, and it paints a clear picture of the world we live in.

Well, without further ado, here are the 10 countries that have the most refugees, a list created with the help of the United Nations Refugee Agency.

10. Chad

Number of refugees: 369K

At the end of last year, Chad was the host of the tenth largest population of refugees – over 369,000 people. The people on the refugees lists mainly come from Sudan and the Central African Republic, two of the nations that have lost some of the largest numbers of people due to the crisis taking place inside the borders.

Considering that Chad has a total population of under 13 million people, the number of refugees it hosts is pretty high. This landlocked country in the northern area of Central Africa borders Libya, Sudan, and the Central African Republic, as well as Cameroon, Nigeria and Niger, being the fifth largest country in Africa in terms of area. Given that two of its neighbors are on the hot list of countries with the most dispatched people, it’s no surprise that it is now called home by so many refugees. And now, let’s see what else we have in our list of countries that have the most refugees.

9. DR of Congo

Number of refugees: 383K

The situation in Congo is pretty similar to the one in Chad. The country, home to over 67 million people, is host to over 383,000 refugees. The United Nations notes that it is the crises in Burundi, the Central African Republic, and South Sudan that have pushed people towards Congo which ranks 9th in our list of countries that have the most refugees. Furthermore, to the people coming from the aforementioned nations, there are also hundreds of thousands of people coming from Rwanda.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is located in the central sub-Saharan region of Africa and borders Angola, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, and Zambia, as well as the South Atlantic Ocean. Given who its neighbors are, there’s no surprise there’s a high number of refugees living here.

8. Uganda

Number of refugees: 477K

In the same area, up comes Uganda, the number 8 in our list of countries that have the most refugees with over 477,000 refugees at the end of 2015. For the most part, Uganda’s refugees come from Burundi, but also from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, making for a rather weird circle – some people run out of Congo, while others run towards it.

The Republic of Uganda is home to over 37.5 million people. Located in the East African Plateau, it borders Kenya, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, and Tanzania. Although so many people have chosen it to flee of the dangers they faced in their own nations, Uganda was ranked as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, so while things may not be as dangerous here as they were in their native countries, refugees still face a lot of hurdles.

7. Kenya

Number of refugees: 553K

Keeping things on the African continent, up next is Kenya, home to over 553,000 refugees at the end of last year. With over 44.3 million citizens, Kenya is one of the most populated countries on the African continent. Lying straight on the equator, the country borders Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia, as well as the Indian Ocean.

Taking into consideration the political climate in the countries surrounding it, as well as the civil unrest in some of them, there’s no surprise there are so many refugees hoping to call Kenya home, at least for a while.

6. Jordan

Number of refugees: 664K

Moving to Western Asia for our next country on the list of countries that have the most refugees, we find Jordan, home to over 6.4 million people. While the population of this nation is quite low, it didn’t stop them from taking in over 664,000 refugees.

Jordan borders Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Israel, and Palestine, so there’s really no surprise that there are so many refugees seeking safety here. After all, there are many people who are looking to stay as close to home as possible, hoping to one day return after the conflicts in their native lands have ceased.

5. Ethiopia

Number of refugees: 736K

And we’re back in Africa again, with Ethiopia being the next country on our list of countries that have the most refugees. With a population of over 94 million, Ethiopia also opened its arms to over 736,000 refugees, according to data from the end of 2015.

Located in the Horn of Africa, the country shares a border with Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Kenya; in short, these are a lot of nations with deep issues that have pushed people to uproot their lives seeking safety.

4. Iran

Number of refugees: 980K

With a population of over 77.5 million people, Iran, the next one in our list of countries that have the most refugees is also home to nearly a million refugees. The country is located in Western Asia and shares a border with Armenia, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Turkey, and Iraq.

Given the problems in nations such as Afghanistan and Iraq, it’s pretty easy to understand why there are so many refugees seeking a new home in Iran, a country that descends from one of the oldest civilizations in the world.

3. Lebanon

Number of refugees: 1.1 million

We are continuing our list of countries that have the most refugees with Lebanon which may only have some 4.4 million citizens of its own, but it hosts over 1.1 million refugees, or at least that was the number at the end of 2015. That’s a massive number considering how small the country is. Even so, the number has dwindled at the end of 2015 by some 83,000 people compared to the previous year, mostly due to verification and de-registration exercises carried out by the local authorities.

This Western Asian nation is bordered by Syria and Israel, while Cyprus is just across the Mediterranean Sea.

2. Pakistan

Number of refugees: 1.6 million

Up next in our list of countries that have the most refugees we have Pakistan, that is home to over 182 million people and about 1.6 million refugees, according to numbers dating to the end of 2015. Bordering India, Afghanistan, Iran, and China, Pakistan has been one of the main nation’s refugees have set towards.

According to data, nearly all refugees residing here came from Afghanistan, some having lived there for over three decades. The differences in numbers between 2014 and 2015 seem to stem from the natural growth of the community of refugees, rather than an efflux of new people.

1. Turkey

Number of refugees: 2.5 million

Finally, we’re at the top of the list of countries that have the most refugees – Turkey – the country that sits on two continents. With a population of its own of over 75 million people, Turkey adds an extra 2.5 million refugees. The country borders Greece, Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Iraq, and Syria and has become a popular destination for refugees.

The local government has been rather open to these people, knowing that many of them actually seek to get help from various western European countries rather than stay put. The number is expected to grow quite a bit in 2016 given the influx of Syrian refugees, especially since many of those that managed to go further into Europe were sent back to Turkey instead.

That being said, these are the 10 countries that have the most refugees.