Canada resettled more refugees than any other country in 2018

Canada resettled the largest number of refugees out of 25 countries in 2018, according to the UN’s refugee agency. The country accepted just over 28,000 refugees last year, with the United States coming in second with 22,900.

An influx of asylum seekers crossing at the US-Canada border has also become a political issue after approximately 40,000 people “irregularly” crossed into Canada between 2017 and 2018.  Canada currently is struggling with a backlog of almost 74,000 asylum claims with applicants waiting almost two years for a hearing.

According to the US-based Pew Research Center, which looked the UNHCR data, 2018 was the first time the US, under the Trump administration, did not lead the world in refugee resettlement since 1980.

More than two thirds of all refugees worldwide came from Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar and Somalia. Globally, 92,400 refugees were resettled in 2018, fewer than 7% of those awaiting resettlement worldwide.

Out of the 25 countries that resettled refugees in 2018, Australia, the UK, and France also resettled high numbers, according to UN figures.

[BBC]

This entry was posted in Humanitarian Aid, International Cooperation, Uncategorized by Grant Montgomery.