New documents obtained by the Refugee Council of Australia through freedom of information (FOI) show that only one third of people in Australia’s Refugee and Humanitarian Program are referred by UNHCR. This increasing...
Refugees in the world
Global resettlement statistics
Every year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) publishes statistics on global resettlement. These statistics tell us where refugees are coming from, where they are being resettled to, and the...
How many refugees are there in the world?
How many refugees are there in the world? Where do they come from? Where do they live? Which countries have the least capacity to host refugees?
How generous is Australia’s Refugee Program compared to other countries?
An analysis of UNHCR’s 2018 Global Refugee Statistics Australian political leaders regularly claim that Australia has one of the most generous refugee responses in the world. But what do UNHCR’s official statistics for...
Refugees and international law
Introduction Refugees have rights and protections under international law. These rights and protections are found in the Refugee Convention and in major international human rights treaties. The main UN organisation that...
Key issues for refugees from Myanmar (Burma)
This page summarises the key facts about Myanmar (or Burma), and the reasons why so many people have been displaced from this country.
Why people need to leave
Why do people leave? The reasons, and how the law treats those reasons, is complex. This post discusses persecution, conflict, environmental change, and development as causes for flight.
Key facts on the conflict in Syria and Iraq
Millions of people have fled the conflict in Syria and Iraq in the past few years. Why have they left? How many of them have left? How has Australia responded?
