The Rising Tide of Refugees, 1999

Caption

The Rising Tide of Refugees, 1999

Summary

This map shows the increasing number of refugees worldwide up to 1999. It provides statistical information about refugee groups, as well as where they came from, where they reside as of the map’s creation, and their various movements in between. The map uses circles with areas proportional to the number of refugees to show the size of refugee populations by country.

Translation

The Wars in the old Yugoslavia: around 2 million people

  • Croatia: 29,000 refugees from Bosnia. 71,000 moved inside of Croatia and 84,000 returned home under the protection of the HCR.
  • Bosnia: 40,000 refugees from Croatia and Serbia. 836,400 moved inside the country and 330,400 returned home under the protection of the HCR.
  • Serbia: 500,000 refugees from Croatia and Bosnia. 225,000 moved inside the country and 110,000 returned home under the protection of the HCR.
  • Several hundreds of thousands of people were killed in the wars in the old Yugoslavia for other European countries. Most have returned home, but there still remain about 200,000 refugees, mainly in Germany, Sweden, Italy and Switzerland. About 800,000 people have fled to Albania, Macedonia, and Montenegro due to the offensive strike of the Serbian army in the spring of 1999. On the 31st of December, 1999, most refugees returned to their homeland.

The United States

  • 1,146,400 refugees and asylum seekers.

The Conflict of the Western Sahara

  • 165,000 refugees in Algeria

Guerrilla Warfare in Colombia

  • Between 1 and 1.5 million people (not helped by the HCR) are moved inside the country.

War in Angola: 312,200 refugees

  • Zambia: 149,800
  • Congo: 20,600
  • The Democratic Republic of Congo: 137,000
  • Namibia: 2,500
  • France and Brazil: 2,900

Palestinians: about 3.7 million refugees (and many hundreds of thousands people displaced in 1967)

  • Lebanon: 370,144, 55% of whom live in camps
  • Syria: 374,521, 29% of whom live in camps
  • Jordan: 1,572,742, 18% of whom live in camps
  • Gaza (Pal): 798,444, 55% of whom live in camps
  • Cisjordan (Pal): 569,741, 26% of whom live in camps

Civil War in Liberia and Troubles in Sierra Leone
1,976,680 people

  • Sierra Leone: 10,000 refugees from Liberia and 670,000 moved inside the country.
  • Guinea-Bissau: 411,500 refugees from Liberia and Sierra Leone.
  • Ghana: 12,600 refugees from Liberia.
  • Cote d’Ivoire: 119,200 refugees from Liberia and Sierra Leone.
  • Liberia: 103,000 refugees from Sierra Leone and 251,000 refugees have returned home to Liberia under the protection of the HCR.

Conflicts in Burundi, Rwanda and the war in old Zaire

  • Rwanda: 32,300 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo and 625,000 moved inside the country.
  • Burundi: 23,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo and 100,000 moved to the inside of the country.
  • Tanzania: 532,100 refugees from Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo.
  • Democratic Republic of Congo: 55,000 refugees from Burundi and Rwanda.

Wars in the Corner of Africa

  • Sudan: 342,300 refugees from Eritrea.
  • Uganda: 189,800 refugees from Sudan.
  • Djibouti: 21,600 refugees from Somalia.
  • Ethiopia: 254,000 refugees from Somalia and Sudan.
  • Yemen: 57,400 refugees from Somalia.
  • Democratic Republic of Congo: 31,200 refugees from Sudan.
  • Kenya: 212,900 refugees from Somalia and Sudan.
  • Somalia: 155,240 refugees return to Somalia under the protection of the HCR.

War in Afghanistan

  • Afghanistan: 315,800 displaced into the interior of the country
  • Iran: 1,400,700
  • Pakistan: 1,200,000
  • India: 16,100

Timor-Oriental

  • Hundreds of thousands of people have fled to the mountains or are forced to move to the west of the island at the time of a fierce repression exercised by the pro-Indonesians following the win of the Independantists at the Referendum of September 1999.

Civil War in Sri Lanka
787,800 people

  • India: 70,300 refugees from Sri Lanka
  • Sri-Lanka: 603,000 moved into the country and 114,600 returned to their homes under the protection of the HCR.

Wars in the Caucasus
Around 1,650,000 people

  • Azerbaijan: 188,400 refugees from Armenia
  • Armenia: 310,000 refugees from Azerbaijan
  • Georgia: 277,000 moved into the interior of the country
  • Russia: 53,700 refugees from Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. More than 200,000 people recently arrived in Ingushetia, pushed onto the roads of exodus by the Russian army and Chechnya.

Problem of the Kurds in Turkey and the Repression of the Kurds and the Shi’ites in Iraq
Between 1 and 2 million people

  • Iran: 530,600 Iranian refugees
  • Iraq: 11,300 Kurd refugees from Turkey.
  • It is estimated that between 500,000 and 2,000,000 Kurds have been moved into the interior of Turkey.

Source

Le Monde Diplomatique [1]

Cartographer: Philippe Rekacewicz

Primary Source:

  • United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), December 1999.

Copyright

© Le Monde Diplomatique