Africa is a continent always on the move. With frequent migratory tendencies within and outside the continent, the most common forms are refugee migration, internal displacements and labor.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), refugees are people who have fled war, violence, conflict or persecution and have crossed an international border to find safety in another country.

Refugees typically face many problems, including danger to life and properties, loss of income sources, hunger and starvation, lack of access to quality education, etc. This will place a high burden on some new countries of abode, tax their national budgets and may even worsen existing insecurity problems in the country.

Africa hosts around 30 million refugees, asylum-seekers and displaced persons originating both from neighboring countries and from different countries, representing almost one-third of the world’s refugee population. Of the number of migrants on the move within Africa, three-quarters are internally displaced persons (about 24 million) and most of them are young people.

Currently, round 60% of Africa’s population is younger than 25 years, and more than a third between the ages of 15 and 34 years old. Experts estimate that by 2100, Africa should still have the youngest population worldwide, with a median age of 35.

Uganda received the largest number of refugees, estimated to be over 1.42 million as of 2020. Sudan and Ethiopia are the second and third countries in Africa with receiving more displaced people after Uganda. Sudan welcomed over 1.04 million refugees even though it had 2.5 million of its people internally displaced, while Ethiopia welcomed over 800 thousand refugees despite having about 1.8 million people dislocated because of the conflict in Tigray.

The Democratic Republic of Congo and Chad, in fourth and fifth, each accommodated about 490 thousand and 478 thousand refugees, respectively. Kenya provided shelter to over 452 thousand refugees. Cameroon did likewise to over 436 thousand refugees and South Sudan, to over 314 thousand refugees within the same period.

Egypt and Tanzania complete the list of 10 countries in Africa with the most refugees in their territories. Each country hosted over 273 thousand and 234 thousand refugees, respectively, in 2020.

In 2021, the continent witnessed additional levels of displacement as conflict and violence flared up in several countries across the continent; triggered by increasing insecurity and human rights violations. These countries include Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Central African Republic and Nigeria.

Topic: Refugees

African Countries With The Most Refugees 2020