UNHCR releases Asia and the Pacific Regional Trends Report 2023

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency’s Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific released today the Asia & the Pacific Regional Trends Report, which provides an overview of forced displacement and statelessness in the region up to the end of 2023. Presenting an in-depth look into the Asia-Pacific region, it follows on from the release of UNHCR’s flagship Global Trends report published in June.

The report highlights that at the end of 2023, the total number of forcibly displaced people, stateless individuals, returnees, and others of concern to the UNHCR in Asia and the Pacific reached 15.7 million, marking a 10 percent increase from 2022.

The region hosts 13 per cent of the global total population UNHCR protects and/or assists (15.7 million out of 122.6 million), including 20 per cent of the world’s refugees and asylum-seekers (7.7 million of 38.5 million) and 57 per cent of the world’s recorded stateless population (2.5 million out of 4.4 million).

The report also offers new analysis on the impact of climate change and how it increasingly and disproportionately affects forcibly displaced people in the region.

“Behind these numbers are people,” said Hai Kyung Jun, UNHCR Director for Asia and the Pacific. “People like you and me, with stories of courage, resilience and hope. Let us remember these individuals today and remind us that what we see today is not a refugee crisis, but critical situations that requires political action and efforts to secure peace. Let us use these numbers and the stories behind them as a call to action for us all.”

Read the full report here.