The number of refugees has fallen for the first time in a decade, but millions of people are still trapped

UNHCRThe flagship Global Trends Report launched in Geneva by High Commissioner Barham Salih shows this the number of global refugees falls three percent by 2025 to 41.6 million.

About 5.4 million people fled to other countries to escape violence and persecution so far this year.

Heading home

Returns are also increasing rapidly: 14.7 million refugees return to their regions or countries of origin by 2025 – including 4.4 million refugees and 10.3 million internally displaced persons – with sharp increases recorded in Afghanistan, Sudan and Syria.

Refugee returns were the second highest since records began 60 years agoalthough the agency warned that much was happening under pressure and precarious conditions.

In a positive development, nearly 46,000 stateless people gained citizenship in 24 countries last year.

Paradigm shift

Despite the overall decline, Salih warned that humanitarian aid alone was no longer enough.

With 70 percent of refugees stuck in exile for years and many living below the poverty line, he called for a fundamental change in approach.

“For many refugees, displacement begins as a lifeline but lasts a lifetime,” he said. We need a paradigm shift that creates new hope and opportunities for people fleeing war and persecution.”

Mr Salih outlined a concrete and measurable goal: to more than halve, over the next decade, the number of refugees in long-term displacement who are dependent on humanitarian assistance – with a focus on low- and middle-income countries where the majority of refugees are hosted.

This initiative will expand opportunities for voluntary return, humanitarian visas and relocation, while transitioning refugees from dependence on aid to independence through access to education, health services, financial services and the labor market.

Fight for the future

The report also showed a sharp decline in resettlement numbers, with arrivals via resettlement or sponsorship routes falling by more than half, year on year, to just 81,800 in 2025 – a widening gap between available places and urgent need.

More than 70 percent of refugees come from Afghanistan, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela. The largest host countries are Colombia, Germany and Turkey.

“Asylum and protection are things that save lives and are not up for debate,” Salih said, “but we cannot accept a future where millions of refugees remain trapped for years or decades without realistic prospects of rebuilding their lives.”