GENEVA — Crises in Libya, Sudan, Somalia and elsewhere prompted 800,000 people to flee their countries last year, the highest number in 11 years, the United Nations’ refugee agency says.
A report issued today by the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said that, including people who fled their homes but not their countries, 4.3 million people were newly displaced worldwide in 2011. The number of new cross-border refugees was the highest since it hit 822,000 in 2000.
However, the number of refugees who were either internally displaced or in the process of seeking asylum at the end of last year declined to 42.5 million from 43.7 million in 2010. The reason was that 3.2 million people who were uprooted but stayed inside their countries were able to return home, the agency said.
Afghanistan remains the world’s leading source of refugees, accounting for about 2.7 million, UNHCR said. It was followed by Iraq with 1.4 million, Somalia with 1.1 million, Sudan with 500,000 and Congo with 491,000. The Associated Press
