Regional conflict and economic opportunity boost number of migrants from 25 million to 54 million
By Phillip Connor
Between 2005 and 2015, the number of
migrants living in the Middle East more than doubled, from about 25
million to around 54 million, according to a Pew Research Center
analysis of data from United Nations agencies. Some of this growth was
due to individuals and families seeking economic opportunities. But the
majority of the migration surge, especially after 2011, was a
consequence of armed conflict and the forced displacement of millions of
people from their homes, many of whom have left their countries of
birth.
The rapid rise in the number of people
looking for safe havens and new livelihoods has over the past decade
transformed the Middle East into the world region with the fastest
growing international migrant and forcibly displaced population,
according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data from United Nations
agencies.
All told, the Middle East’s migrant
population increased by about 120% between 2005 and 2015. This far
exceeds increases in the combined international migrant and forcibly
displaced populations over the same period in continental Africa (91%
growth), Latin America and the Caribbean (77%) and the Asia-Pacific
region (26%).
Europe’s and North America’s migrant
populations also grew more slowly over the 2005-2015 period (about 20%
in each region), even though Europe received a record 1.3 million asylum seekers in 2015 – many from the Middle East.
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