Diavata refugee camp is a military-run refugee camp located in Diavata, a community belonging to the municipality of Delta, Central Macedonia, Greece. The camp opened on 24 February 2016 to host Syrian, Afghan and Iraqi refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war, the long-ongoing Afghan conflict and the Iraq War. [1] The camp has capacity for 2500 refugees and as of 1 July 2016, hosts 1,744 refugees [2] in 171 tents and 134 RHUs (Refugee Housing Units). [3]
The former military camp of Anagnostopoulou was reconverted in the current Diavata refugee camp, producing protests by about 800 neighbours of Diavata, that opposed the creation of a refugee camp in their village. [4] [5]
On 21 April 2016 a fire presumably started from a cooking fire. The strong wind and the proximity between shelters resulted in the burning down of 25 tents, with some refugees losing part of their belongings, including clothes, passports or money. Some people were treated due to smoke inhalation, but no injuries were reported. [6] [7]
A refugee living in the camp stated to receive only a juice in the morning, noodles with a bread for lunch and nothing for dinner. He also reported that some tents host two or even three families, and that single men are accommodated in the building on the territory. [8]
Date | Number of refugees | Syrian (%) | Afghan (%) | Iraqi (%) | Other (%) | Adults (%) | Children (%) | Tents | RHUs |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
14-04-2016 | 2,281 | 75 | 11 | 14 | ? | 60 | 40 | 145 | 160 |
12-05-2016 | 2,320 | 75 | 11 | 12 | ? | 55 | 45 | 171 | 134 |
14-06-2016 | 1,804 | 75 | 12 | ? | 13 | 52 | 48 | 171 | 134 |
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency mandated to aid and protect refugees, forcibly displaced communities, and stateless people, and to assist in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, with over 18,879 staff working in 138 countries as of 2020.
A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced people. Usually, refugees seek asylum after they have escaped war in their home countries, but some camps also house environmental and economic migrants. Camps with over a hundred thousand people are common, but as of 2012, the average-sized camp housed around 11,400. They are usually built and run by a government, the United Nations, international organizations, or non-governmental organization. Unofficial refugee camps, such as Idomeni in Greece or the Calais jungle in France, are where refugees are largely left without the support of governments or international organizations.
Afghan refugees are citizens of Afghanistan who were forced to flee from their country as a result the continuous wars that the country has suffered since the Afghan-Soviet war, the Afghan civil war, the Afghanistan war (2001–2021) or either political or religious persecution. The 1978 Saur Revolution, followed by the 1979 Soviet invasion, marked the first major wave of internal displacement and international migration to neighboring Iran and Pakistan; smaller numbers also went to India or to countries of the former Soviet Union. Between 1979 and 1992, more than 20% of Afghanistan's population fled the country as refugees. Following the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, many returned to Afghanistan, however many Afghans were again forced to flee during the civil war in the 90s. Over 6 million Afghan refugees were residing in Iran and Pakistan by 2000. Most refugees returned to Afghanistan following the 2001 United States invasion and overthrow of the Taliban regime. Between 2002 and 2012, 5.7 million refugees returned to Afghanistan, increasing the country's population by 25%.
Refugees of Iraq are Iraqi nationals who have fled Iraq due to war or persecution. In 1980- 2017, large number of refugees fled Iraq, peaking with the Iraq War and continuing until the end of the War in Iraq (2013–2017). Precipitated by a series of conflicts including the Kurdish rebellions during the Iran–Iraq War, Iraq's Invasion of Kuwait (1990) and the Gulf War (1991), the subsequent sanctions against Iraq (1991–2003), culminating in the Iraq War and the subsequent War in Iraq (2013–2017), millions were forced by insecurity to flee their homes in Iraq. Iraqi refugees established themselves in urban areas in other countries rather than refugee camps.
Syrian diaspora refers to Syrian people and their descendants who chose or were forced to emigrate from Syria and now reside in other countries as immigrants, or as refugees of the Syrian Civil War.
The Iraqi diaspora refers to native Iraqis who have left for other countries as emigrants or refugees, and is now one of the largest in modern times, being described by the UN as a "humanitarian crisis" caused by the 1991 Gulf War and 2003 invasion of Iraq and by the ensuing war.
Palestinians in Iraq are people of Palestinians, most of whom have been residing in Iraq after they were displaced in 1948. Before 2003, there were approximately 34,000 Palestinians thought to be living in Iraq, mainly concentrated in Baghdad. However, since the 2003 Iraq War, the figure lies between 10,000–13,000, although a precise figure has been hard to determine. The situation of Palestinians in Iraq deteriorated after the fall of Saddam Hussein and particularly following the bombing of the Al-Askari Mosque in 2006. Since then, with the rise in insecurity throughout Iraq, they have been the target of expulsion, persecution and violence by Shia militants, and the new Iraqi Government with militant groups targeting them for preferential treatment they received under the Ba'ath Party rule. Currently, several hundred Palestinians from Iraq are living in border camps, after being refused entry to neighbouring Jordan and Syria. Others have been resettled to third countries.
Iraqis in Syria are Syrian citizens of Iraqi origin and Iraqi residents in Syria.
Al-Waleed is a makeshift Palestinian refugee camp in Iraq, near the border with Syria and the al-Tanf Crossing, and not far from the border with Jordan. It was set up in 2006 by Iraqi-Palestinian and Iraqi refugees stranded at the Iraqi–Syrian border. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has two field staff stationed in the camp. In 2008, it had a population of 1,649 refugees, 1,602 of whom were Palestinians and the remainders Iraqis.
Refugees of the Syrian civil war are citizens and permanent residents of Syria who have fled the country throughout the Syrian civil war. The pre-war population of the Syrian Arab Republic was estimated at 22 million (2017), including permanent residents. Of that number, the United Nations (UN) identified 13.5 million (2016) as displaced persons, requiring humanitarian assistance. Of these, since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011 more than six million (2016) were internally displaced, and around five million (2016) had crossed into other countries, seeking asylum or placed in Syrian refugee camps worldwide. It is often described as one of the largest refugee crises in history.
The Zaatari refugee camp is a refugee camp in Jordan, located 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) east of Mafraq, which has gradually evolved into a permanent settlement; it is the world's largest camp for Syrian refugees. It was first opened on 28 July 2012 to host Syrians fleeing the violence in the ongoing Syrian War that erupted in March 2011. It is connected to the road network by a short road which leads to Highway 10.
Syrian refugee camp and shelters are temporary settlements built to receive internally displaced people and refugees of the Syrian Civil War. Of the estimated 7 million persons displaced within Syria, only a small minority live in camps or collective shelters. Similarly, of the 8 million refugees, only about 10 percent live in refugee camps, with the vast majority living in both urban and rural areas of neighboring countries. Beside Syrians, they include Iraqis, Palestinians, Kurds, Yazidis, individuals from Somalia, and a minority of those who fled the Yemeni and Sudanese civil wars.
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Refugees in Romania have arrived in multiple waves throughout Romania's history. Historical waves of refugees include the Armenians who fled the Ottoman Empire due to the Armenian genocide in 1915, Greeks who fled persecution after the Greek Civil War and during the Greek military junta of 1967–74, Koreans who fled the Korean War and Chileans fleeing the Military dictatorship of Chile (1973–90).
A refugee crisis can refer to difficulties and dangerous situations in the reception of large groups of forcibly displaced persons. These could be either internally displaced, refugees, asylum seekers or any other huge groups of migrants.
This is a timeline of the European migrant crisis of 2015 and 2016.
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