Concept
Asia and the Pacific is facing many complex displacement situations, ranging from emergencies requiring immediate humanitarian responses to protracted displacement contexts requiring longterm and sustainable solutions. Most refugees, after fleeing their home countries, find asylum in neighboring countries, which are predominantly low- or middle-income. Climate-induced disasters continue to exacerbate humanitarian situations in the region and put vulnerable populations more at risk of displacement or statelessness. In order to articulate the scale and characteristics of forced displacement and statelessness in the region, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific, produces an annual flagship พegional report containing the most recent trends on the aforementioned topics.
The latest report titled Asia and the Pacific Regional Trends - Forced Displacement and Statelessness 2023 estimated that the total number of people who are forcibly displaced, stateless, returnees or others of concern to UNHCR in Asia and the Pacific by end of 2023 stood at 15.7 million, a 10 percent increase from the end of 2022. The region hosts 13 percent of the global total population under the purview of UNHCR, 20 percent of the world’s refugees and asylum-seekers, and 57 percent of the world’s stateless population.
UNHCR’s mandate involves collaborating with other humanitarian actors and partners to provide protection and assistance to forcibly displaced and stateless people. Concurrently, UNHCR has been advocating for states to include these vulnerable populations in national censuses and surveys to inform policy making and program planning. Progress has been made in Thailand, where stateless people are being included in the CRVS system and the upcoming census, and in Indonesia, which plans to include refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), and stateless people in the 2025 intercensal survey.
UNHCR RBAP, in collaboration with ESCAP, is organizing this Stats Café to:
- Highlight the trends in forced displacement and statelessness in Asia and the Pacific in 2023.
- Share Thailand's experience in including stateless people in the CRVS system and census.
- Share Indonesia's experience in including refugees, IDPs, and stateless people in the national survey.
