What is the difference between population statistics for forcibly displaced and the population of concern to UNHCR?
Overview
At the end of , the total number of forcibly displaced people was million, while
the total population of concern to UNHCR stood at million people.
The total number of forcibly displaced people ( million) encompasses refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced people and Venezuelans displaced abroad.
It includes refugees and other displaced people not covered by UNHCR’s mandate and excludes other categories such as returnees and non-displaced stateless people.
The total population of concern to UNHCR ( million) relates to the people UNHCR is mandated to protect and assist.
It includes those who have been forcibly displaced (refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced
people and Venezuelans displaced abroad); those who have returned home within
the previous year; those who are stateless (most of whom are not forcibly displaced); and other
groups of concern to whom UNHCR has extended its protection or provided assistance on a
humanitarian basis.
These two categorizations are compared graphically below.
|
Forcibly
displaced people |
Population of concern to UNHCR
|
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Palestine refugees under UNRWA's mandate |
Not included in UNHCR's population of concern. |
||
Refugees under UNHCR's mandate |
Includes both refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Used consistently in both categorizations. |
||
Asylum-seekers |
Used consistently in both categorizations. |
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Venezuelans displaced abroad |
Used consistently in both categorizations. |
||
Internally Displaced People (IDPs) |
The biggest difference between the two categorizations is with people who have been internally displaced.
When presenting these statistics, UNHCR applies two different sources: IDMC's IDP statistics collate
the total forcibly displaced while those IDPs protected/assisted by UNHCR are included in the total population of concern to UNHCR.
The two sources of IDP data vary significantly in certain countries.
Globally, for zzzz, IDMC reports x IDPs while UNHCR reports y conflict-affected IDPs.
|
||
Stateless people |
While in total UNHCR reports x stateless people, y are also forcibly displaced
(e.g. the Rohingya in Bangladesh that have been forcibly displaced from Myanmar).
These y are only counted as forcibly displaced when calculating the total population of concern to UNHCR to avoid double counting.
|
||
Refugee returns |
Only included in UNHCR's population of concern for a period of 12 months. |
||
IDP returns |
Only included in UNHCR's population of concern for a period of 12 months. |
||
Others of concern to UNHCR |
Only included in UNHCR's population of concern. |
||
Are mid-year statistics different from end-year?
Yes. There are two reasons why the figures at mid-year are not directly comparable with the end-year figures:
- UNHCR's population of concern includes returnees (refugees and IDPs). These are flow figures - i.e. the number of people returning in a specific year, whereas all the other figures are stock figures remaining at the end of each reporting period. As such, figures for these two durable solutions will be lower at mid-year, than at end-year.
- IDMC publishes new displacements at mid-year, but not the updated stock figure of the number of IDPs remaining displaced. Therefore, the forcibly displaced figure UNHCR publishes relies on IDMC's end-year figure from the previous year.
Where are these categories used?
The total number of people forcibly displaced is included in UNHCR's Global Trends publication,
while the total population of concern supports the challenges and achievements presented in UNHCR's Global Report.