Although it might seem that developed countries in the West are helping people in war zones and conflict by hosting them, it isn’t the full truth. The impression provided by the media and powerful politicians are skewed, and the reality is far from what it looks like. In fact, the wealthy nations of the world do not share their fair share of responsibility by providing the refugees with a home, but the low and middle-income groups are doing a much better job at hosting refugees. According to the UN Refugee Agency, 82.4 million people across the globe were forcefully displaced at the end of 2020 due to a wide variety of reasons such as human rights violations, persecution, violence and conflict. Out of these, 26.4 million people lie in the category of refugees, and 4.1 million people are asylum seekers. More than two-thirds of all the refugees are from these five countries: Syrian Arab Republic (6.7 million), Venezuela (4 million), Afghanistan (2.6 million), South Sudan (2.2 million), and Myanmar (1.1 million).
39% of the refugees across the globe are hosted by just five countries: Turkey (3.7 million), Colombia (1.7 million), Pakistan (1.4 million), Uganda (1.4 million) and Germany (1.2 million). Even though Turkey provided the maximum amount of protection by accepting refugees from across the globe, when the proportion of the total population is considered along with the refugee population, Lebanon tops the list. For sending relief packages to refugees staying in these countries’ courier services, Emirates Post, TCS, are amongst those used. In addition to that, the United Nations is trying its best to help the refugees that are being hosted by the above countries. Below is a list of the top five countries that accept the most refugees, in relation to the population of the country. The list is based on the data collected during the period between 2011-2020.
1. Lebanon
19.5% of the total population of Lebanon consist of refugees. It is the host of more than 1.5 million refugees from Syria. In addition to Syrian refugees, a lot of Palestinian refugees live there as well. Lebanon is a densely populated country, and the political balance of the country is fragile due to the different religious and ethnic groups.
2. Jordan
Jordan, which is close to Syria, has hosted more than a million Syrian refugees. According to the UN Refugee Agency data, the country has 660,000 Syrian refugees. Most of the refugees of the country stay in the urban centers, and these people mostly struggle in finding affordable housing in the country. The country also faces the problem of employment opportunities, which often result in a clash between the local population and the refugee population. Along with Syrian refugees, the country also houses 2.3 million Palestinian refugees.
3. Nauro
It is a small island state that has received plenty of refugees by sea from Australia. They accepted the refugees when the Australian authorities refused to accept them and according to the last report, Australia has not stopped sending refugees to this small island state.
4. Turkey
Turkey hosts more than five percent of refugees in proportion to their population. It has been receiving refugees since 2011, and the number of refugees hosted by the country is more than 4.3 million. Even though Turkey is a populous country and is a large nation, it has managed to smoothly handle the problem of refugees. However, the problem of managing such a large refugee population still remains a challenge for the country.
5. Liberia
Liberia has opened its door for the refugees of the Ivory Coast. They have managed to show great hospitality to refugees by accepting a huge number of them, even though the country is struggling with its own set of problematic situations due to the civil war.
In addition to these countries, Uganda, Malta, Sudan, Sweden, and South Sudan also make it to the list of major recipients of refugees. 86% of refugees are hosted by developing countries, and the least developed countries host 27% of the total refugee population.