According to the 1951 Geneva Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is… [a person who]… owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.

Facts & Figures:

Refugees and/or Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Arab Countries (by country of asylum)

- United Nations Refugee Agency ( UNHCR) , 2004

Country	Number of Refugees
Algeria	169,048
Djibouti	18,035
Egypt	90,343
Historical Palestine ( Israel)	574
Iraq	46,053
Jordan	1,100
Kuwait	1,519
Lebanon	1,753
Libya	12,166
Mauritania	473
Morocco	2,121
Oman	7
Qatar	46
Saudi Arabia	240,552
Sudan	141,588
Syria	15,604
Tunisia	90
UAE	105
Yemen	66,384
Total	807,561

(Figures are for registered refugees of concern to UNHCR only – Palestinian refugees registered with UNRWA residing in the 5 fields of UNRWA's operations do not fall under the UNHCR mandate)

- CIA World Fact book, 2005:

Country	Refugees	IDPs
Algeria	102,000	400,000 – 600,000
Egypt	70,245 (Palestinians) 14,904 (Sudanese)	-
Historical Palestine ( Israel)	-	276,000 (Arab villagers)
Iraq	22,711 (Palestinians)	1,000,000
Jordan	1,827,877 (Palestinians)	168,000 (result of 1967 war)
Lebanon	404,170 (Palestinians)	300,000 (result of civil war)
Saudi Arabia	240,000 (Palestinians)	-
Somalia	-	405,000
Sudan	-	5,300,000 – 6,200,000
Syria	432,048 (Palestinians) 14,391 (Iraqis)	170,000
West Bank & Gaza Strip (OPT)	1,685,851	-
Yemen	63,511 (Somalis)	-
Total	4,877,708	8,019,000

Palestinian Refugees

- United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees ( UNRWA) figures, Dec. 2005

Area	Number
West Bank	699,817
Gaza Strip	986,034
Jordan	1,827,877
Lebanon	404,170
Syria	432,048
Total	4,349,946

(Figures are for registered refugees only)

- Badil Resource Center, beginning 2003:

Category of Palestinian refugees	Number
Displaced in 1948 and registered with UNRWA	3.97 million
Displaced in 1948 and not registered with UNRWA	1.54 million
Displaced for the first time in 1967	753,000
1948 internally displaced Palestinians	274,000
1967 internally displaced Palestinians	150,000
Total	6.687 million

Estimated number of Arab Refugees and IDPs in the Arab World :

Palestinian registered and unregistered refugees & IDPs (6,687,000) 1
+
Non-Palestinian registered refugees in Arab States (807561) 2
+
Non-Palestinian registered IDPs in Arab States (8,019,000) 3
= 15, 513,561 Arab refugees and IDPs in the Arab World

1 Source: Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights
2 Source: The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
3 Source: CIA World Fact Book