UN Official : Majority of Refugees Do Not Go to Europe

UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Protection, Volker Turk, visits internally displaced persons in Bakasi camp in Maiduguri, Nigeria.

Brussels, MINA – UN refugee agency (UNHCR) Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Volker Turk said Thursday that a vast majority of refugees do not seek refuge in Europe but in the regions of their origin.

“It is important to bear in mind that the vast majority of refugees and people who are displaced as a result of conflicts do not come to Europe. They remain in regions of origin. 84 percent of refugees are outside Europe. It is important to bear this in mind,” KUNA reported, citing Turk in a press conference in Sofia, Bulgaria, where he discussed migration and asylum issues with EU interior ministers.

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He said the EU has pledged to UNHCR so far to resettle 40,000 refugees in EU countries.

“But we need much more given the fact that we have 17 million refugees in the world,” he said.

Turk stressed the importance that those countries that bear the brunt of refugees are supported.

He cited the example of Uganda which hosts over 1 million refuges from South Sudan and the countries surrounding Syria like Lebanon, Turkey, Jordan and Iraq which are host to over 5 million Syrian refugees.

He praised Turkey for hosting over 3 million refugees from Syria but he warned that the situation in Syria is not conducive for return of Syrian refugees at this time. (T/RS5/RS1)

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Mi’raj Islamic News Agency MINA)