THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE UPROOTED BY CONFLICT OR PERSECUTION ROSE TO 20.8 MILLION LAST YEAR, BUT REFUGEES WHO HAVE ACTUALLY FLED THEIR HOMELAND NOW ACCOUNT FOR ONLY FOUR OUT OF EVERY 10, THE UNITED NATIONS SAID, ACCORDING TO REUTERS. THE OVERALL FIGURE, UP BY SIX PERCENT FROM 19.5 MILLION A YEAR BEFORE, SWELLED DUE TO FRESH SURGES OF INTERNALLY-DISPLACED PEOPLE IN IRAQ, SOMALIA, AND DARFUR, SUDAN, THE U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR) SAID. IT INCLUDES JUST 8.4 MILLION REFUGEES WHO CROSSED AN INTERNATIONAL BORDER -- THE LOWEST LEVEL SINCE 1980 -- AND 6.6 MILLION INTERNALLY-DISPLACED, FORCED TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES BUT REMAINING WITHIN THEIR COUNTRY'S BORDERS. THE REST ARE EITHER STATELESS, ASYLUM-SEEKERS, OR THOSE WHO HAVE RETURNED HOME BUT REMAIN OF CONCERN TO THE UNHCR. "MUCH OF THE INCREASE IS DUE TO A RISE IN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE LIVING IN REFUGEE-LIKE SITUATIONS WITHIN THEIR OWN COUNTRIES," THE GENEVA-BASED AGENCY SAID ITS "2005 GLOBAL REFUGEE TRENDS" REPORT. IT WAS THE FIFTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR IN WHICH THE GLOBAL REFUGEE POPULATION DROPPED, AS REFUGEES RETURNED HOME IN DROVES TO AFGHANISTAN, LIBERIA, IRAQ AND ANGOLA.
