Does Denmark receive many refugees on a world scale?
If we look at the number of refugees per capita in the world, Denmark is very low on the list, and considerably below our neighbour countries. And if we compare the countries based on their purchasing power, Denmark is at the bottom. Denmark does not make an impressive effort, neither on the European level or on the global scale. We have even reduced our small number of resettlement refugees. And even though Sweden and Germany have done a lot compared to the rest of Europe, they receive far less than many of the poorest developing countries.
In the world, 120 million people have now been forced to leave their home – and of these, the majority are still in their home county as internally displaced. 43 mio have fled to other countries, 69% of them to a neighbour country. The developing and middle-income countries are carrying the main load of the world’s refugees. Only 25% are in the highly developed regions, and even fewer in Europe.
Many refugees live in the poorest countries in the world, among them are Bangladesh, Chad, DRC, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Yemen. These countries only account for 13% of the world's population and only 1.25% of the global GDP, yet they are hosting 33% of the refugee population.
Some countries are host countries and at the same time a part of their own population is seeking protection in other countries – for instance Colombia, Iran, Turkey and Sudan.
NEW ASYLUM SEEKERS PER 1 MILLION INHABITANTS 2023
Selected countries
3 out of 4 refugees are in a neighbour country. Most of the Syrian refugees are in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, while most of the Afghan refugees are in Pakistan and Iran. Colombia and Peru are hosting the majority of Venezuelan refugees. This puts an enormous pressure on countries which are already struggling with their own conflicts and are not able to help their own population. The global community contributes way too little to these host nations, and too few nations are accepting too small quotas. Denmark has for instance only received 500 per year until 2015, and only 279 in total from 2015 to May 2024 (one single person in 2023).
In 2023, most of the new refugees came from Afghanistan, Syria and Venezuela, and a quickly rising number are fleeing in and from Sudan in 2024. The number of refugees arriving in a new host country dropped significantly in 2020 (45% less than 2019) due to Covid-19 restrictions making it impossible to travel, and the UN resettlement program almost stopped.
The figure below shows the countries housing the largest number of refugees in 2020 (Palestinian refugees are counted separately). Only one of them is in Europe. It includes the newly arrived from Syria and Myanmar, but also earlier groups from Afghanistan and Somalia. Many are living under terrible conditions with limited rights in their host countries, not finding durable and sustainable solutions.
10 COUNTRIES HOSTING THE LARGEST NUMBER OF REFUGEES + SCANDINAVIA, 2023
