The Refugee Influx - Refugees From The Near Eastand South Asia

Although the Near East (an area often considered to consist of countries in southeastern Europe, northwestern Africa, and southwestern Asia) and South Asia regions have the largest number of the world's refugees, countries within these regions have historically taken in refugees from neighboring countries. The majority of refugees have been Iraqi, Iranian, and Afghan nationals. According to the U.S. Department of State, between 1980 and 2002 more than 133,000 refugees from Near East and South Asian countries resettled in the United States (U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, "Refugee Admissions Program for Near East and South Asia," http://www.state.gov/g/prm/rls/fs/15496.htm, November 25, 2002). Most came from Iraq (36,000), Iran (about 58,000), and Afghanistan (33,000).

By 2004 the Near East and South Asia regions remained host to the majority of the world's refugee population—some 6.5 million people, primarily Afghans, Palestinians, and Iraqis. The UNHCR, the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), and other humanitarian organizations worked with refugees in the region. Despite the voluntary return of some three million Afghan refugees from countries of asylum since November 2001, the government of Pakistan may need to indefinitely host some of the remaining Afghan population, who have been resident there for many years. Other countries in the region have provided long-term asylum for Tibetan, Bhutanese, Sri Lankan, and Iraqi refugees. Refugees identified by the UNHCR for resettlement in the region included Afghans in Pakistan, Iran, and India; Afghans and Iranians in Turkey; and some particularly vulnerable Iraqis throughout the region.