Refugees

 

Introduction & Overview

introduction
introduction & overview of the issue

overviews & key resources
overview factsheets, key websites & resources


In-depth Resource Guide

articles & literature
articles, documents, factsheets, reports & publications

organizations & websites
organizations, programs, and other informational websites

introduction  Today, no continent, and barely any country, in the world is untouched by the global refugee crisis. At the beginning of 2000 an estimated 14 million people were living as refugees, uprooted from their homes and forced to cross an international border. Huge though they are, the global refugee numbers hide an even greater displacement crisis: that of the internally displaced, those people who are forced to flee their homes, often for the very same reasons as refugees - war, civil conflict, political strife, and gross human rights abuse - but who remain within their own country, do not cross an international border, and hence are not eligible for protection under the same international system as refugees. There are an estimated 30 million internally displaced persons in the world - the number may be even higher. Human Rights Watch