ICERAS

. Worldwide Eritrean Refugee Population and Protection.

As of the end of 2018, UNHCR counted 507,300 Eritrean refugees receiving protection under its mandate worldwide – up from 486,000 a year previous – thus sustaining Eritrea as the ninth largest country of origin for refugees.  United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: “Global Trends: Forced Displacement 2018.”

These were the countries hosting the largest numbers of UNHCR-registered Eritrean refugees at that time: Ethiopia 174,000, Sudan 114,000, Germany 55,300, Switzerland 34,100, Sweden 27,700, Norway 15,200, the Netherlands 14,900, Israel 14,500, and the UK 13,000.  United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, “Global Trends: Forced Displacement 2018.”

The United Nations has estimated Eritrea’s total population at 5.7 million, such that its known refugees may number almost 10% of its population. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 

(The foregoing refugee figures do not include the 78,600 pending asylum cases recorded by the UN as of the end of 2018. Nor do they include the number of Eritreans who have fled Eritrea but who have not been tallied at all by the UN – a figure that is likely substantial.)

The United Nations’ Total Protection Rate for Eritreans who had fled their country (that is, those who had received protection either from UNHCR or from individual countries’ asylum procedures) was 81% as of the end of 2018 — tied with Syrians as the third highest rate for the worlds’ peoples.  United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, “Global Trends: Forced Displacement 2018.” 

B. U.S. Admissions of Eritrean Refugees.

As the U.S.’s overall admission of UNHCR-processed refugees has declined in recent years, so has the number of Eritrean refugees admitted. But the ranking of Eritreans within overall U.S. refugee admissions has risen. In FY (October through September) 2017, 1917 Eritreans were admitted, placing them in ninth place; in FY 2018, 1269 were admitted, placing them in fifth place; in FY 2019 (through April 30, 2019), 932 were admitted, placing them in fourth place.  Migration Policy Institute.

C. U.S. Asylum Grants and Denials for Eritreans in Immigration Court.

In recent years, the ratio of asylum grants to asylum denials for Eritreans in U.S. immigration court has declined. In FY (October through September) 2011, the ratio was 461/56; in FY 2012, it was 326/47; in FY 2013, it was 241/27; in 2014, it was 165/28; in FY 2015, it was 140/56; in FY 2016, it was 152/90; the FY 2017 figures were not readily available at the time of this posting; and in FY 2018 it was 272/267. U.S. Department of Justice, Executive Office for Immigration Review.

(The preceding asylum figures count only “defensive” asylum cases – those that are decided in the first instance by immigration judges after an individual has lawfully presented himself or herself at a U.S. port of entry and asked for asylum, or has been apprehended after entering the U.S. unlawfully. The figures do not reflect grants and denials performed by asylum officers in “affirmative” asylum cases, where an individual who had lawfully gained entrance to the U.S. on a visa subsequently asks for asylum.)https://eritreanrefugees.org/refugee-stats/ readmore