Poor Countries Hosting Majority of the World’s Refugees.

According to a recently published report by the Britain-based Oxfam, the six richest countries in the world, which make up more than half the global economy, currently host less than nine percent of the world’s refugees.

The United States, China, Japan, Germany, France and the United Kingdom hosted 2.1 million refugees and asylum seekers last year – just 8.88 percent of the global total, the report said.

In contrast, “Jordan, Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, South Africa as well as the Occupied Palestinian Territory host over 50 percent of the world’s refugees and asylum seekers but account for under two percent of the world’s economy,” it said.

“While Germany has … welcomed far more refugees than the other of the wealthiest nations, there still remains a major gap, with poorer countries providing the vast majority of safe havens for refugees.”

Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of Oxfam, added: “Too many people who have taken treacherous journeys to reach safety end up living in degrading situations littered with abuse, hostility and discrimination, and too few governments are doing anywhere near enough to help or protect them.”

An unprecedented 65 million people from around the world have been forced to flee their homes because of conflict, persecution and violence, the report said.

More than a third of them are refugees and asylum seekers, Oxfam said, and the remainder are living as displaced persons within their own countries.

• Pray for the millions of refugees and displaced persons across the world. Pray that more governments will open the doors of their countries to provide places of safety and hope to those who have lost everything.
• Pray for protection for refugees, especially women and children, who are often vulnerable to abuse and human trafficking.
• Pray for agencies working amongst refugees, for protection from compassion fatigue, and for aid workers to be channels of the love and grace of Jesus Christ to those they help.
• Pray for an end to the conflicts and tensions that cause so many to have to flee their homes.
• Pray that man refugees will encounter Jesus Christ, and come to find healing, hope and life through Him.

Psalm 102 vs 17: “He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and will not despise their prayer.”

Source: http://www.aljazeera.com/news