Libyan News Agency
A report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees showed that the number of refugees hosted by countries in the Middle East and North Africa decreased by 2 percent, reaching 2.4 million at the end of 2022.
The report, titled “Global Trends in Forced Displacement in 2022”, indicated that this decrease is attributable to refugee verification activities that took place in Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan.
At the end of 2022, Lebanon (818,900), Jordan (697,800), Egypt (294,600), and Iraq (273,700) hosted 87 percent of all refugees in the region.
The report indicated that there is a surprising number related to Iran, where the number of refugees increased from 798,300 to 3.4 million, with the registration of an additional 2.6 million Afghans.
However, despite some positive signs, the Middle East and North Africa region continues to face significant challenges related to internally displaced persons.
The organization’s report indicated that, with regard to asylum applications, there was an increase of 40 percent in 2022, with 288,400 new applications from citizens of the Middle East and North Africa region. More than half of these applications came from the Syrian population, with the majority of applications submitted in Germany, Austria and the Netherlands.