Many in the West are fearful of a world they imagine in which refugees from these countries are flooding into Europe and the United States at record rates. Those anxieties have driven governments to tighten borders and slash refugee resettlements.
But in reality, the vast majority of the world’s refugees are largely living in neighboring countries, a fact reasserted in an annual report from the United Nations refugee agency. The recent report said 68.5 million people worldwide were classified in 2017 as having been forcibly displaced because of conflict and persecution, the highest number since the end of World War II. Among them are 25.4 million refugees — those who have fled to another country to escape war or persecution and who receive special protections under international law.
The roots of the Syrian civil war began in 2011 with a peaceful uprising — inspired by the Arab Spring — with large-scale street protests against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. It escalated into a civil war after a government crackdown.
Within a few years, other factions got involved. The United States supported some of the rebels. Iran and Russia backed forces loyal to Mr. Assad. In 2015, an American-led coalition began airstrikes on the Islamic State — which had seized swaths of northern and eastern Syria. Kurdish forces in the north fought against the government of Mr. Assad, Turkey and other rebel groups.
The complexity of the conflict and Mr. Assad’s determination to maintain power have perpetuated the war, making Syria the leading source of refugees in 2017. At least 5.6 million people have fled Syria since 2011, most arriving in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. An additional 6.3 million remain internally displaced.
Afghanistan’s protracted war and the Taliban insurgency have made it the second-largest source of refugees in the world. The roots go back to 1978, when the Soviet Union invaded the country. But the bulk of the current refugee crisis derives from a war fought since 2001 by the Afghan government — backed by American-led forces — which has struggled to maintain security and fight the Taliban.
Security worsened in 2017 with the resurgence of the Taliban and other groups. Countless attacks on civilians have driven many people to leave. According to the United Nations report, Afghanistan’s refugee population grew by 5 percent to 2.6 million people by the end of 2017.
South Sudan was just two years old when civil war erupted in 2013. The conflict began as a feud between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and then-Vice President Riek Machar and has engulfed the country in ethnic violence and a humanitarian crisis. Tens of thousands have died.
Every day, hundreds of South Sudanese refugees cross the border into neighboring Uganda — one of the countries hosting the most refugees in the world, with 1.4 million claiming asylum there from neighboring countries.
This year, South Sudan is in the midst of a hunger crisis. With millions potentially facing acute malnutrition, more refugees are expected.
A flood of Myanmar’s Rohingya people poured across the border into Bangladesh at the end of 2017, fleeing persecution by the Myanmar military and security forces.
But the Rohingya, a Muslim minority, have faced violence and discrimination in Myanmar, a majority-Buddhist nation, for decades. They are considered outsiders by the government despite origins in the country’s Rakhine state.
A brutal crackdown on civilians in August after an attack by a Rohingya insurgent group led to the rapid large-scale displacement. Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, the United Nations High Commissioner for human rights, has called Myanmar’s campaign against the Rohingya «a textbook example of ethnic cleansing.»
The number of refugees from Myanmar more than doubled from less than half a million at the start of 2017 to 1.2 million by the year’s end. Most are hosted by Bangladesh in overcrowded camps.
A Somali civil war that involved the overthrow of the military government of President Siad Barre in 1991 destroyed the state, crippled food production and left the country in chaos. The years since have left Somalia one of the most desperate nations.
Tens of thousands of Somalis have spent decades living in refugee camps in neighboring nations. When an internationally supported government was installed in 2012, the country seemed to finally move toward stability. But the Shabab extremist group has carried out numerous attacks.
Although Somalia was the fifth-largest source of refugees for 2017 — with 986,400 people having refugee status — the number of Somali refugees actually declined by 3 percent from the previous year. Most live in Kenya, Yemen and Ethiopia.
Hunger and war send millions to their neighbors.