List of largest refugee crises
This is a list of largest refugee crises to occur.
List
The list below includes the number of refugees per event with at least 1 million individuals included. This list does not include internally displaced persons (IDP). For events for which estimates vary, the geometric mean of the lowest and highest estimates is calculated to rank the events.
Rows highlighted in blue indicate a present event that is occurring.
Event | Refugees estimate | Origin | From | Until | Duration | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
World War II | 60.0 million | Europe | 1939 | 1945 | 6 years | [1][2][3][4][5][6] |
Partition of India | 10.0–20.0 million | Indian subcontinent | 1947 | 1948 | 1 year | [7][8] |
World War I
|
7.0–15.0 million | Europe | 1914 | 1918 | 4 years | [9][10][11] |
Russian Invasion of Ukraine
|
9.2 million[note 1] | Ukraine and Russia | 2022 | Present | 2 years, 1 month | [12][13][14][15] |
Bangladesh Liberation War | 9.0 million | Indian subcontinent | 1971 | 1971 | 8 months | [16] |
Crisis in Venezuela | 7.7 million | Venezuela | 2014 | Present | 10 years | [17] |
Syrian Civil War | 6.7 million | Syria | 2011 | Present | 13 years | [18] |
Soviet–Afghan War | 6.2 million | Afghanistan | 1978 | 1989 | 11 years | [19] |
Israeli–Palestinian Conflict | 5.6 million | Palestine (region) | 1947 | Present | 77 years | [20] |
Yemeni Civil War | 4.5 million | Yemen | 2015 | Present | 9 years | [21] |
Vietnam War | 3.0 million | Mainland Southeast Asia | 1975 | 2000 | 25 years | [22] |
War in Afghanistan | 2.6–2.7 million | Afghanistan | 2001 | 2021 | 20 years | [23][24] |
Yugoslav Wars | 2.4 million | Yugoslavia | 1991 | 2001 | 10 years | [25] |
Korean War | 1.0–5.0 million | Korea | 1950 | 1953 | 3 years | [26][27] |
Iraq War | 2.2 million | Iraq | 2003 | 2012 | 9 years | [28] |
Rwandan Genocide | 2.1 million | Rwanda | 1994 | 1996 | 2 years | [29] |
War in Sudan
|
1.9 million | Sudan | 2023 | Present | 11 months | [30] |
Iraqi Uprisings | 1.8 million | Iraq | 1991 | 1991 | 8 months | [22] |
Mozambican Civil War | 1.7 million | Mozambique | 1977 | 1992 | 15 years | [22] |
South Sudanese Civil War | 1.5 million | South Sudan | 2011 | 2020 | 9 years | [31] |
Rohingya Genocide | 1.3 million | Myanmar | 2016 | Present | 8 years | [32] |
Algerian War | 1.0 million | Algeria | 1954 | 1962 | 8 years | [22] |
Irish Great Famine | 1.0 million | Ireland | 1845 | 1849 | 4 years | [33] |
First Libyan Civil War
|
1.0 million | Libya | 2011 | 2011 | 8 months | [34] |
Somali Civil War
|
1.0 million | Somalia | 1991 | Present | 33 years | [35] |
Notes
- Russian emigration following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
See also
- List of countries by refugee population
References
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- ^ Gatrell, Peter (2017). "The Question of Refugees: Past and Present". Origins. Archived from the original on 2023-01-11. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
- UNHCR. 2000. Archived(PDF) from the original on 2020-01-08. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
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- ^ Chase, Gummer (2014). "World War I Centenary: Migration in Europe". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2021-12-27. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
- ^ "Individual refugees from Ukraine recorded across Europe". UNHCR. 2023-04-18. Archived from the original on 2022-06-27. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
- ^ "Forbes: about 700,000 people leave Russia since mobilisation started". Novaya Gazeta. 2022-10-04. Archived from the original on 2022-10-08. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
- ^ "Hundreds of thousands flee Russia and Putin's 'two wars'". Al Jazeera. 18 April 2022. Archived from the original on 2022-10-04. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
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- ISBN 9780313346422. Archivedfrom the original on 2023-01-11. Retrieved 2020-11-15.
- ^ Andara Meza, Albany (7 September 2023). "Cifra de migrantes venezolanos aumentó a 7,71 millones, alerta R4V". Efecto Cocuyo (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 September 2023.
- UNHCR. November 10, 2021. Archived from the originalon January 19, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
- ^ Rupert Colville (1997). "Refugees Magazine Issue 108 (Afghanistan : the unending crisis) - The biggest caseload in the world". UNHCR. Archived from the original on 2022-05-18. Retrieved 2022-03-05.
- ^ "UN agency for Palestinian refugees launches $95 million appeal to keep COVID at bay". UN News. September 4, 2020. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- ^ "Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen". unrefugees.org. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ a b c d State of the World's Refugees, 2000 Archived 2022-04-09 at the Wayback Machine United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
- ^ Refugees, United Nations High Commissioner for. "Afghanistan". UNHCR. Archived from the original on 30 July 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
- ^ "In numbers: Life in Afghanistan after America leaves". BBC News. 13 July 2021. Archived from the original on 23 August 2021. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
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- ^ "The biggest refugee movements in history". MSN. Archived from the original on November 21, 2018. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
- ^ "Population and Manpower of Korea 1954" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. 13 September 1954. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 20, 2017.
- ^ "UN agencies launch $85-million appeal to aid 2.2 million Iraqi refugees". UN News. September 18, 2007. Archived from the original on June 21, 2022. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- ^ Prunier 2009, pp. 24–25
- ^ "IOM Displacement Tracking Matrix Sudan - Weekly Displacement Snapshot 20 (13 February 2024)". reliefweb.int. 2024-02-13. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
- ^ "Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General". United Nations. 2017-02-10. Archived from the original on 2022-06-20. Retrieved 2018-11-21.
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- ^ "Irelands' Population in the mid 1800s". Archived from the original on 2022-06-21. Retrieved 2019-06-13.
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- ^ "Registered Somali Refugee Population". UNHCR. Archived from the original on 28 June 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2016.