List of largest refugee crises

!Event

!Refugees estimate

!Origin

!From

!Until

!Duration

!class="unsortable"|{{Abbr|Ref.|Reference(s)}}

|{{sort|60.0|60.0 million}}

|Europe

|1939

|1945

|{{sort|6|6 years}}

|{{Cite book |url=https://www.unhcr.org/3ebf9ba80.html |title=The State of The World's Refugees 2000: Fifty Years of Humanitarian Action |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2000 |pages=13 |language=en |access-date=2022-03-09 |archive-date=2022-04-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220423195513/https://www.unhcr.org/3ebf9ba80.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000377890 |title=Reporting on Migrants and Refugees: Handbook for Journalism Educators |publisher=UNESCO |year=2021 |isbn=978-92-3-100456-8 |location=France |pages=21 |language=en |access-date=2022-03-09 |archive-date=2022-06-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607144951/https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000377890 |url-status=live }}{{Cite book |last=Orchard |first=Phil |title=A Right to Flee: Refugees, States, and the Construction of International Cooperation |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2014 |isbn=9781139923293 |location=United Kingdom |pages=3 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Frank |first1=Matthew |url=https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/refugees-in-europe-1919-1959-a-forty-years-crisis/ |title=Refugees in Europe, 1919–1959: A Forty Years' Crisis? |last2=Reinisch |first2=Jessica |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |year=2017 |isbn=978-1-4742-9573-4 |pages=147, 153 |language=en |access-date=2022-03-09 |archive-date=2022-05-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503121336/https://www.bloomsburycollections.com/book/refugees-in-europe-1919-1959-a-forty-years-crisis/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite magazine |last1=Rothman |first1=Lily |last2=Ronk |first2=Liz |date=2015-09-11 |title=This Is What Europe's Last Major Refugee Crisis Looked Like |url=https://time.com/4029800/world-war-ii-refugee-photos-migrant-crisis/ |access-date=2022-03-09 |magazine=Time |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Gatrell |first=Peter |date=2017 |title=The Question of Refugees: Past and Present |url=https://origins.osu.edu/article/question-refugees-past-and-present?language_content_entity=en |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=Origins |language=en |archive-date=2023-01-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111192650/https://origins.osu.edu/article/question-refugees-past-and-present?language_content_entity=en |url-status=live }}

|{{sort|14.1|20.0 million}}

| Indian subcontinent

|1947

|1948

|{{sort|1|1 year}}

|{{Cite web|url=https://www.unhcr.org/3ebf9bab0.pdf|title=The State of The World's Refugees 2000|date=2000|website=UNHCR|access-date=2018-11-21|archive-date=2020-01-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200108092313/https://www.unhcr.org/3ebf9bab0.pdf|url-status=live}}{{Cite book|chapter=India–Pakistan Partition 1947 and forced migration|doi=10.1002/9781444351071.wbeghm285|year=2013|author=Vazira Fazila-Yacoobali Zamindar|title=The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration|isbn=9781444334890|chapter-url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781444351071.wbeghm285|access-date=2022-03-05|archive-date=2021-01-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122014723/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781444351071.wbeghm285|url-status=live}}

|{{sort|10.2|15.0 million}}

|Europe

|1914

|1918

|4 years

|{{Cite book |last1=Gatrell |first1=Peter |title=Europe on the Move: Refugees in the Era of the Great War |last2=Zhvanko |first2=Liubov |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=2017 |isbn=9781784994419 |location=United Kingdom |pages=3 |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last=Gatrell |first=Peter |date=2008 |title=Refugees and Forced Migrants during the First World War |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02619280802442613 |journal=Immigrants & Minorities |volume=26 |issue=1–2 |pages=82–110 |doi=10.1080/02619280802442613 |s2cid=143755412 |via=Taylor & Francis Online |access-date=2022-03-10 |archive-date=2022-06-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220623114206/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02619280802442613 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}{{Cite web |last=Chase |first=Gummer |date=2014 |title=World War I Centenary: Migration in Europe |url=https://graphics.wsj.com/100-legacies-from-world-war-1/migration-in-Europe |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=The Wall Street Journal |language=en |archive-date=2021-12-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211227214326/https://graphics.wsj.com/100-legacies-from-world-war-1/migration-in-Europe |url-status=live }}

|{{sort|Russian Invasion of Ukraine|Russian invasion of Ukraine}}

|{{sort|9.2|9.2 million}}Includes 8.2 million Ukrainian refugees recorded in Europe (including countries partially in Europe); 0.2 million people fleeing Russia after the invasion but before the announcement of mobilization; 0.8 million people fleeing Russia after the beginning of Russian mobilization in September 2022. See also Russian emigration during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

|Europe

|2022

|Present

|{{sort|{{#expr:{{Age in months|2022-02-24}}/12}}|{{Age in years and months|2022-02-24}}}}

|{{cite web|title=Individual refugees from Ukraine recorded across Europe|work=UNHCR|url=https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine|date=2023-04-18|access-date=2023-04-21|archive-date=2022-06-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220627032436/https://data.unhcr.org/en/situations/ukraine|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Forbes: about 700,000 people leave Russia since mobilisation started|url=https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2022/10/04/forbes-about-700000-people-leave-russia-since-mobilisation-started-news|work=Novaya Gazeta|date=2022-10-04|access-date=2022-10-08|archive-date=2022-10-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221008224127/https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2022/10/04/forbes-about-700000-people-leave-russia-since-mobilisation-started-news|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Hundreds of thousands flee Russia and Putin's 'two wars'|work=Al Jazeera|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/18/why-white-collar-russians-flee-two|date=18 April 2022|access-date=2022-10-08|archive-date=2022-10-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221004161023/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/4/18/why-white-collar-russians-flee-two|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=Blinken: Russia's war against Ukraine a 'strategic failure'|url=https://share.america.gov/blinken-russia-war-in-ukraine-strategic-failure/|date=2023-06-05|access-date=2024-02-01}}

|{{sort|9.0|9.0 million}}

|Indian subcontinent

|1971

|1971

|{{sort|0.71|8 months}}

|{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rgGA91skoP4C&pg=PA34|title=Dictionary of Genocide: A-L|last1=Totten|first1=Samuel|last2=Bartrop|first2=Paul Robert|date=2008|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9780313346422|pages=34|language=en|access-date=2020-11-15|archive-date=2023-01-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230111192649/https://books.google.com/books?id=rgGA91skoP4C&pg=PA34|url-status=live}}

|Crisis in Venezuela

|{{sort|8.9|8.9 million}}

|Venezuela

|2014

|Present

|{{sort|11|11 years}}

|{{cite web |last1=Osorio |first1=Sonia |title=Casi 9 millones de venezolanos emigraron, pero mantienen fuerte vínculo con su país y la democracia|url=https://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/florida/sur-de-la-florida/article288478663.html/ |website=El Nuevo Herald |access-date=14 May 2024 |language=es |date=13 May 2023}}

|Syrian Civil War

|{{sort|6.7|6.7 million}}

|Syria

|2011

|Present

|{{sort|14|14 years}}

|{{Cite news|url=https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/|title=Refugee Data Finder |website=UNHCR|date=November 10, 2021|access-date=March 13, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119025120/https://www.unhcr.org/refugee-statistics/|archive-date=January 19, 2022}}

|{{sort|6.2|6.2 million}}

|Afghanistan

|1978

|1989

|{{sort|11|11 years}}

|{{cite web|title=Refugees Magazine Issue 108 (Afghanistan : the unending crisis) - The biggest caseload in the world|author=Rupert Colville|url=https://www.unhcr.org/publications/refugeemag/3b680fbfc/refugees-magazine-issue-108-afghanistan-unending-crisis-biggest-caseload.html|year=1997|work=UNHCR|access-date=2022-03-05|archive-date=2022-05-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220518203300/https://www.unhcr.org/publications/refugeemag/3b680fbfc/refugees-magazine-issue-108-afghanistan-unending-crisis-biggest-caseload.html|url-status=live}}

|Yemeni Civil War

|{{sort|4.5|4.5 million}}

|Yemen

|2015

|Present

|{{sort|10|10 years}}

|{{cite web|title=Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen|url=https://www.unrefugees.org/emergencies/yemen/|website=unrefugees.org|accessdate=8 January 2024}}

|Sudanese civil war (2023–)

|{{sort|3.5|3.5 million}}

|Sudan

|2023

|Present

|{{sort|{{#expr:{{Age in months|2023-04-15}}/12}}|{{Age in years and months|2023-04-15}}}}

|{{cite web |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/sudan/iom-sudan-displacement-tracking-matrix-dtm-sudan-mobility-update-15-publication-date-5-february-2025 |title=IOM Sudan Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) Sudan Mobility Update (15) |date=5 February 2025 |website=reliefweb |access-date=24 March 2025}}

|{{sort|3.0|3.0 million}}

|Mainland Southeast Asia

|1975

|2000

|{{sort|25|25 years}}

|[https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/publications/sowr/4a4c754a9/state-worlds-refugees-2000-fifty-years-humanitarian-action.html State of the World's Refugees, 2000] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409182644/https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/publications/sowr/4a4c754a9/state-worlds-refugees-2000-fifty-years-humanitarian-action.html |date=2022-04-09 }} United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

|{{sort|2.6|2.6–2.7 million}}

|Afghanistan

|2001

|2021

|20 years

|{{cite web|url=https://www.unhcr.org/afghanistan.html|title=Afghanistan|last=Refugees|first=United Nations High Commissioner for|website=UNHCR|access-date=21 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730080411/https://www.unhcr.org/afghanistan.html|archive-date=30 July 2019|url-status=live}}{{cite web|title=In numbers: Life in Afghanistan after America leaves|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-57767067|access-date=21 April 2023|website=BBC News|date=13 July 2021|archive-date=23 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210823133602/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-57767067|url-status=live}}

|{{sort|2.4|2.4 million}}

|Yugoslavia

|1991

|2001

|{{sort|10|10 years}}

| < |{{Cite book|title=The Balkans|last=Watkins|first=Clem S.|publisher=Nova Publishers.|year=2003|location=New York City|pages=10|isbn=9781590335253}}

|{{sort|2.23|1.0–5.0 million}}

|Korea

|1950

|1953

|{{sort|3|3 years}}

|{{Cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/photos/the-biggest-refugee-movements-in-history/ss-BBDqNM0?fullscreen=true|title=The biggest refugee movements in history|website=MSN|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-11-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121203941/https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/photos/the-biggest-refugee-movements-in-history/ss-BBDqNM0?fullscreen=true|archive-date=November 21, 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP79T00935A000300030001-8.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170120195908/https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP79T00935A000300030001-8.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 20, 2017|title=Population and Manpower of Korea 1954|date=13 September 1954|website=Central Intelligence Agency}}

|{{sort|2.2|2.2 million}}

|Iraq

|2003

|2011

|{{sort|8|8 years}}

|{{Cite news|title=UN agencies launch $85-million appeal to aid 2.2 million Iraqi refugees|url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2007/09/231632-un-agencies-launch-85-million-appeal-aid-22-million-iraqi-refugees|work=UN News|date=September 18, 2007|access-date=March 6, 2022|archive-date=June 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621184312/https://news.un.org/en/story/2007/09/231632-un-agencies-launch-85-million-appeal-aid-22-million-iraqi-refugees|url-status=live}}

|{{sort|2.1|2.1 million}}

|Rwanda

|1994

|1996

|{{sort|2|2 years}}

|Prunier 2009, pp. 24–25

|{{sort|1.8|1.8 million}}

|Iraq

|1991

|1991

|{{sort|0.67|8 months}}

|

|{{sort|1.75|1.5–2 million}}

|Caucasus

|1988

|1996

|{{sort|8|8 years}}

|{{Cite web |date=1 May 1996 |title=UNHCR publication for CIS Conference (Displacement in the CIS) - Conflicts in the Caucasus |url=https://www.unhcr.org/publications/unhcr-publication-cis-conference-displacement-cis-conflicts-caucasus |access-date=3 February 2025 |website=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees}}{{Cite web |last=Cohen |first=Roberta |date=10 June 2003 |title=Testimony of Roberta Cohen, Co-Director, The Brookings-SAIS Project on Internal Displacement, at the public hearing on "Internally Displaced Persons in the Caucasus Region and Southeastern Anatolia" |url=https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/RCTestimonyJune03-1.pdf |access-date=3 February 2025 |website=Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe |publisher=Brookings Institution |pages=1}}

|{{sort|1.7|1.7 million}}

|Mozambique

|1977

|1992

|{{sort|15|15 years}}

|

|Arab-Israeli Conflict

|{{sort|1.6|1.6 million (700,000 Palestinians est.
900,000 Jews est.)}}

|Palestine (region)

|1947

|Present

|{{sort|77|77 years}}

|{{Cite news |date=September 4, 2020 |title=UN agency for Palestinian refugees launches $95 million appeal to keep COVID at bay |work=UN News |url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/09/1071702 |access-date=March 6, 2022 |archive-date=September 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925092328/https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/09/1071702/ |url-status=live }}

|{{sort|1.5|1.5 million}}

|South Sudan

|2011

|2020

|{{sort|9|9 years}}

|{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2017/db170210.doc.htm|title=Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General|date=2017-02-10|publisher=United Nations|access-date=2018-11-21|archive-date=2022-06-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220620173614/https://www.un.org/press/en/2017/db170210.doc.htm|url-status=live}}

|Rohingya Genocide

|{{sort|1.3|1.3 million}}

|Myanmar

|2016

|Present

|{{sort|9|9 years}}

|{{Cite news|url=https://reliefweb.int/report/bangladesh/who-appeals-international-community-support-warns-grave-health-risks-rohingya|title=WHO appeals for international community support; warns of grave health risks to Rohingya refugees in rainy season - Bangladesh|work=ReliefWeb|access-date=2018-11-21|language=en|archive-date=2023-03-07|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230307064219/https://reliefweb.int/report/bangladesh/who-appeals-international-community-support-warns-grave-health-risks-rohingya|url-status=live}}

|{{sort|1.0|1.0 million}}

|Algeria

|1954

|1962

|{{sort|8|8 years}}

|

|{{sort|1.0|1.0 million}}

|Ireland

|1845

|1849

|{{sort|4|4 years}}

|{{Cite web |url=https://www.mapspictures.com/ireland/history/ireland_population.php |title=Irelands' Population in the mid 1800s |access-date=2019-06-13 |archive-date=2022-06-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621180002/https://www.mapspictures.com/ireland/history/ireland_population.php |url-status=live }}

|{{sort|1.0|1.0 million}}

|Libya

|2011

|2011

|{{sort|0.67|8 months}}

|{{cite web|url=http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e485f36.html|title=2013 UNHCR country operations profile - Libya|date=2013|publisher=UNCHR|access-date=12 November 2013|archive-date=21 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321193723/https://www.unhcr.org/pages/49e485f36.html|url-status=live}}

|Somali Civil War

|{{sort|1.0|1.0 million}}

|Somalia

|1991

|Present

|{{sort|34|34 years}}

|{{cite web|url=http://data.unhcr.org/horn-of-africa/regional.php|title=Registered Somali Refugee Population|publisher=UNHCR|access-date=3 July 2016|archive-date=28 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170628165215/http://data.unhcr.org/horn-of-africa/regional.php|url-status=dead}}