Asked by: Lord Selkirk of Douglas (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for International Development:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what estimate they have made of the number of refugees in (1) Europe, (2) the Middle East, and (3) North Africa, and what those figures are broken down by country.
Answered by Baroness Verma
As of 8th December the UN estimate that more than 920,000 refugees and migrants have crossed the Mediterranean to Europe this year. Almost 770,000 have arrived in Greece, and a further 150,000 have arrived in Italy. A large number of refugees remain in the Middle East. The most accurate figures are available for Syrian refugees, of whom there currently are 2,181,293 in Turkey, 1,070,189 in Lebanon, 632,762 in Jordan, and 244,527 in Iraq. Additionally, 2,117,361 Palestinian refugees are currently registered in Jordan, and 452,669 in Lebanon. It is also estimated that North Africa is host to 234,901 refugees, the majority of whom are in Egypt (187,753) and Libya (36,984).