Internally Displaced People, 2nd Edition

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Middle East

Regional Overview

With approximately 1.5 million internally displaced people (IDPs) as of early 2002, the Middle East is the region with the least IDPs. Approximately 80 per cent of them have been displaced for over ten years. The vast majority are in Iraq, although the estimate of IDPs in that country is a rough one at best, as few independent organizations have been granted access by the Iraqi government. The Middle East is one of the few regions in the world where the refugee population, at present over 6 million, including 3.9 million Palestinians, exceeds that of the internally displaced.

While prospects for the return of internally displaced people in Lebanon and in some parts of Iraq have improved over the last couple ...