Refugees - data & facts

In 2023, the number of people reached a new high with 117.3 million. The high proportion of children and adolescents who make up 40 percent of those seeking protection is particularly alarming - that's about 46.9 million young people. The majority of them escape within their own country or in neighboring countries. 68.3 million are internally displaced persons who are looking for protection within their home countries. Only a small part escapes to Europe. Most people who had to flee from their home country came from Syria (over 6.5 million), Afghanistan (6.4 million) and Ukraine (6 million) in 2023. These three countries alone are responsible for 52 percent of global refugee numbers.

In Germany, the number of new asylum applications has increased significantly in 2023. A total of 352,000 asylum applications were made, the highest number since 2016. About half of the protection seekers in Germany were children and adolescents, around 176,000 young people. Syria (104,561 applications), Afghanistan (53,282 applications) and Turkey (62,624 applications) were the main countries of origin. Most young people have arrived with their family, but some have also set off. In 2023, 2,232 unaccompanied minor refugees made an asylum application in Germany.

According to the Geneva Convention, a refugee is a person who is "from the reasonable fear of persecution because of their breed, religion, nationality, belonging to a certain social group or because of their political conviction outside the country whose nationality they have, and cannot take advantage of the protection of this country". This definition only applies if the person has exceeded a state border. People who are on the run within their own country are referred to as internal or "internally displaced persons" (IDP). 

The UN Convention on the Rights of Children is also dedicated to the rights of children on the run. Article 22 (1) states: "The contracting states take suitable measures to ensure that a child who desires the legal status of a refugee receives appropriate protection and humanitarian aid in perception of the rights."