Number Of Refugees Falls As Countries Close Borders

The global flow of refugees, asylum seekers and other displaced people has declined to a seven-year low of 34 million people - partly as a result of shrinking expectations of safe haven, the U.S. Committee for Refugees said Monday.

The United States and Germany were among 15 countries named in the private group’s annual World Refugee Survey as places where guarantees of political asylum have deteriorated.

Other reasons for the lower refugee population included repatriations in 1996 of a total of nearly 2 million people to Rwanda and other African countries and Afghanistan and the end of the peak flow from the former Soviet Union.

The report expressed concern that “asylum for refugees around the world is eroding in more countries than ever before, as governments - including those traditionally friendly to refugees - either close their borders completely or offer ‘pseudo-asylum’ that lacks adequate protection.”

The United States led the list of donor countries to international refugee relief agencies in 1996, with $389 million, the report said.

But the United States ranked ninth on a per capita basis, with $1.47, compared to leading Norway’s $13.25.