Just the Facts – Refugees

• There are 25.9 million refugees worldwide, half of them children.  Refugees are people forced to flee their country because of violence or persecution.
• An additional 41.3 million people are internally displaced, meaning they were forced to flee their home but did not cross an international border.
• And … every day, 37,000 additional people are forced to flee their homes.
• Every year, refugees walk over 1.2 billion miles in search of safety.
• Over half of all refugees are hosted by only 10 countries, including some of the poorest countries in the world, such as Sudan, Uganda and Pakistan.
• In fiscal year 2018, the U.S. admitted only 22,491 refugees.  In October 2019, the U.S. admitted zero refugees for the first time in the 30 years in which monthly records have been kept.

To help refugees this holiday season:

• Amnesty International works to make sure governments honor their shared responsibility to protect the rights of refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants.  Donate here: https://www.amnesty.org/en/donate/
• For more than 130 years, HIAS has been helping refugees rebuild their lives in safety and dignity.  Donate here: https://act.hias.org/page/6048/donate/1
• For 68 years, the primary purpose of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been to safeguard the rights and well-being of people who have been forced to flee. Together with partners and communities, they work to ensure that everybody has the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another country. They also strive to secure lasting solutions.  Donate here: https://donate.unhcr.org/int/general/~my-donation#_ga=2.137265776.1580604317.1574891145-1199363418.1574891145
• Locally, Welcoming the Stranger is an educational non-profit that offers free classes in English as a Second Language (ESL), computer skills, and United States citizenship exam preparation to adult immigrants and refugees in the Philadelphia metro region.  Donate here: https://interland3.donorperfect.net/weblink/weblink.aspx?id=3&name=E349044

Sources:  https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/refugees-asylum-seekers-and-migrants/global-refugee-crisis-statistics-and-facts/ and https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html and The Nation.