Does Denmark receive many refugees on a world scale?
If we look at the number of refugees per capita in the world, Denmark is 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. Even though Sweden and Germany are doing a lot compared to the rest of Europe, they receive far less than many of the poorest developing countries.
In the world, 82 million people have now been forced to leave their home – and of these, the vast majority are still in their home county as internally displaced. 26 mio have fled to other countries, most of them to a neighbour country. The developing countries are carrying the main load of the world’s refugees. Only 14% are in the 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 and Turkey.
NEW ASYLUM SEEKERS PER 1,000 INHABITANTS 2020
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 recieved 500 per year until 2015, and only 200 in 2020.
In 2020, most of the new refugees came from Venezuela (arriving mainly in South- and North America), Afghanistan and Syria (mostly coming to Europe). 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 imposible to travel, and the UN resettlement program almost stopped.
The figure below shows the countries housing thje largest number of refugees (Palestinian refugees are counted separately). Only one of them is in Europe. It includes the newly arrived from Syria and Myanmar, burt 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 2020
