A recent study by the UNHCR found that a large proportion of the 3.2 million people displaced in the first half of 2016 have settled in some of the world’s poorest countries. Over half of those refugees fled the Syrian conflict and relocated to neighboring countries. As of 2016, Syrians accounted for 32 percent of the world’s refugee population. The refugee crisis in South Sudan is also of particular concern. Nearly 1 million refugees from South Sudan are putting pressure on some of the least developed countries in the world who host them, including Sudan, Kenya, and Ethiopia.
Actions by powerful and developed countries, such as Trump’s refugee ban, will only further burden poor countries who cannot properly provide the economic support and help that refugees so desperately need.