World Refugee Day

Today is World Refugee Day, marking the roughly 26 million internally displaced persons (IDPs, people who are forced to move elsewhere in their own country) and 15 million refugees (people forced to move outside their own country).  The 41-or-so million displaced around the world for 2011 is actually lower than the 43-or-so million displaced in 2010.  Fortunately, there has been some moves back home into Iraq and Afghanistan by refugees who's area is now safe or at very least out of the immediate conflict zone.  However, The Arab Spring Wars and other other conflicts both new and old have resulted in 4.3 million new refugees and IDPs in the past year.

The leading countries for refugee origins are

1. Afghanistan 
2. Iraq 
3. Somalia 
4. Sudan/South Sudan 
5. Democratic Republic of the Congo 
6. Burma 
7. Colombia 
8. Vietnam 
9. Eritrea 
10. People's Republic of China

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has an online "choose your own adventure"-style quiz on the choices a refugee has to deal with.  It even created the great online report below which surveys the geography and demographics of refugees around the world.