In this article, we will be taking a look at the 15 countries with the most refugees in the U.S. To skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to see the 5 countries with the most refugees in the U.S.
Where this is war and terror, there is displacement, which leads to refugees escaping from such areas or countries and move to other regions where safety, security and peace is much higher, often at the risk of losing their livelihoods and possessions. While war and displacement has been a constant through human history, the first months of 2022 saw the number of people who were fleeing war and persecution globally cross 100 million for the first time ever. Unfortunately, this isn’t even a temporary dip; just the war in Ukraine last year as a result of Russia’s invasion saw over 6 million people flee the country and 8 million being internally displaced, and many such refugees ended up even in the U.S., making Ukraine one of the countries with the most refugees in the U.S. It is also important to remember the difference between refugees and immigrants, where the latter moves by choice to improve their standard of living and have the option to go back, which a refugee doesn’t.
However, despite this global issue, many countries are reluctant to take in refugees. Since a large number of refugees are Muslims, it is unsurprising that the countries which host the most refugees are Muslim nations with Turkiye topping the list, followed by Iran, with Pakistan also making the top 5 countries with the most refugees, mainly from neighboring Afghanistan. Meanwhile, many European countries are very strict with regards to refugee policies, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, with Western Europe being more accepting, which is why Germany is one of the top five countries with the most refugees and the most of any European country. However, this stance changed dramatically after Ukraine was invaded by Russia, with European countries opening their borders to host Ukrainian refugees and provide them with adequate and necessary support.
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As mentioned earlier, refugees tend to originate from countries embroiled in war and violence and over half of the refugees under UNHCR mandate originate from just thee nations; Syria, Ukraine and Afghanistan. Syria has been embroiled in a proxy war which has resulted in over a decade of a major humanitarian crisis and made it the country with the most number of refugees in the world, and also among the countries with the most refugees in the U.S. Meanwhile, Afghanistan has been a war-torn country for decades and the 2021 return of the Taliban after an ill-planned U.S. withdrawal from the country, resulted in many fleeing the nation to avoid brutal reprisals from the Taliban who now rule the country.
While helping refugees makes sense from a human rights perspective, it also makes business sense, especially with corporate social responsibility and ESG initiatives, which can make or break a company’s reputation in addition to its financial performance. In fact, many companies are working just to help refugees improve their standards of living in a foreign company. For example, in the UK, around 70% of refugees are unemployed despite possessing valid education and work experience, and a company called Breaking Barriers is working to help such refugees. Breaking Barriers claims on its website “Our charity has moved away from a two-dimensional philanthropic approach, towards a top-line business-focused one. We develop the business case for offering work placements, employee engagement, and hiring refugees to show how this can add value to companies. WeWork Inc. (NYSE:WE) is one of the most recent partners. The space and services provider that fosters collaboration has given the charity workspaces to host English language classes and workshops across three different sites. There are already 220 refugees who have benefited from the classes, and WeWork Inc. (NYSE:WE) has pledged to hire 1,500 workers from these communities over the next five years.”
Furthermore, many other major companies are getting in on this act too, as this presents an economic opportunity not to mention an opportunity to boost a company’s reputation, thought the countries with the most refugees in the U.S. won’t really care about the reason. In 2018, nearly two dozen companies agreed during a UN General Assembly to help refugees with the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees stating “We have historic records of people on the move today, but we can see this as an opportunity. But it can’t be an opportunity if we don’t have everyone involved. We can’t do this alone. From employing thousands of refugees to investing millions of dollars in skills training, technology and educational equipment, recently big companies like Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), IKEA, H&M, Sodexo and Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE:HLT) publicly announced concrete plans and benchmarks to help thousands of refugees, sparking their hope to thrive.” Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) provides digital skills trainings for refugees, with all resources being available for free, including providing access to learning the fundamentals of computer science.
Refugees, unlike immigrants, have had a limited acceptance rate in the United States through the past several years. Back in 2012, the ceiling for refugees in the United States was 76,000 and over 58,000 refugees moved to the country. Then, after Donald Trump became President, he slowed down the refugee program, with the CEO of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, stating that Trump decimated a program in four years which had taken decades to build, and in 2018, the refugee ceiling was just 45,000 and the actual number of refugees that moved to the U.S. was just 22,632. In the next year, the ceiling was decreased further to just 30,000 and in 2020, to 18,000 with just 11,000 admitted to the U.S., though the Covid-19 pandemic played a part in this too. Finally, after Joe Biden became President, the total limit was increased to 62,500 in 2021, though again just over 11,400 were admitted with the Covid-19 pandemic still wreaking havoc. In 2022, while the limited was increased to 125,000, the total number of refugees admitted was just over 25,000. However, improvements have been made and over 38,000 refugees have already moved to the U.S. in June YTD in 2023.
Methodology
To determine the countries with the most refugees in the U.S., we calculated the total number of refugees from each country who moved to the U.S. from 2012 to 2023 June YTD as using this statistic allowed us to cater to various global crises which have occurred in the past decades, as well as adjust for changes in U.S. immigration policy in the time duration. Our data has been obtained from the Department of State Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration Office of Admissions – Refugee Processing Center.
15. Burundi
Total refugees admitted in the U.S. since 2012: 3,573
Even though around 75,000 refugees have moved back to Burundi since 2017 as part of a repatriation program, it is still among the countries with the most refugees in the U.S.
14. Colombia
Total refugees admitted in the U.S. since 2012: 3,760
Colombia has been home to over 6 decades of armed conflict, and despite the 2016 Peace Agreement being signed, violence continues to be a mainstay in many peoples’ lives, prompting them to move to the U.S.
13. El Salvador
Total refugees admitted in the U.S. since 2012: 4,267
The South American country with the most refugees in the U.S., El Salvador may not be facing a civil or external war like many of the entries in our list, but high levels of crime and violence have resulted in many seeking asylum especially in the U.S. The deteriorating situation can be assessed by the fact that the country had no refugees going to the U.S. before 2016.
12. Ethiopia
Total refugees admitted in the U.S. since 2012: 5,907
The ongoing conflict in Ethiopia has killed thousands of residents amid a major conflict between the Ethiopian government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, which has resulted in hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the country, with a few thousand moving to the U.S.
11. Afghanistan
Total refugees admitted in the U.S. since 2012: 9,817
Afghanistan has been among the top five countries with the most refugees in the U.S. from 2021-2023, after the Taliban retook the country. However, the U.S. has faced a lot of controversy for denying visas to those who helped U.S. soldiers with the war, despite the threat to their lives from the Taliban.
10. Sudan
Total refugees admitted in the U.S. since 2012: 12,380
Over 2.3 million Sudanese have been displaced from the country in the last several years as violent conflict rages in various regions of the nation, and is considered to be one of the largest refugee crises in Africa.
9. Eritrea
Total refugees admitted in the U.S. since 2012: 14,848
The Eritrean government is accused by the Human Rights Watch of committing war crimes and also possible crimes against humanity against Tigrayan civilians in Ethiopia, but also continues brutal repression against its own people at home, leading to Eritreans leaving in droves. Even though the company gained independence in 1993, it still has no civil society organizations independent from the government, no legislation and even no independent judiciary.
8. Iraq
Total refugees admitted in the U.S. since 2012: 15,149
Even though Iraq is home to over a quarter of a million refugees, it is also among the nations with the highest number of refugees in the U.S. Iraq has been home to substantial conflict and violence over the past few decades. While it seems that the situation is getting slightly better, attacks can still take place, because of which people still flee the country, though the number of refugees dropped off from nearly 7,000 in 2017 to just 158 in 2018, and less than 500 in any year since.
7. Iran
Total refugees admitted in the U.S. since 2012: 18,000
Iran has been the subject of Western sanctions for many years now, while brutal government policies have also seen people leave in droves. However, Iranian refugee movement to the U.S. has decreased substantially since 2018, and now only a couple of hundred Iranian refugees move to the U.S. each year.
6. Ukraine
Total refugees admitted in the U.S. since 2012: 21,793
One of the newest additions to the list of the countries with the most refugees in the U.S., you might be surprised to learn that the Eastern European nation had thousands of refugees moving to the U.S. even before the war. While the war has exacerbated the situation hugely, most war refugees have actually settled within Europe and so, inflows in the last year have not been very high in the U.S.
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Disclosure: None. 15 countries with the most refugees in the U.S. is originally published on Insider Monkey.