The countries hosting the most refugees on a per capita basis will come as a surprise to many as they are among the smallest nations in the world.

On the tiny Caribbean nation of Aruba, 16 per cent of the population is made up of refugees – the highest proportion in the world, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR.

Aruba is a former Dutch colony with a population of just over 100,000. As a result of the crisis in neighbouring Venezuela, around 17,000 people have in the small island state. Many more have attempted to reach Aruba but have been turned back.

Aruba still has close ties to the Netherlands, which also controls its foreign and security policy. The people of Aruba have the right to obtain a Dutch passport, and the authorities in both Aruba and the Netherlands are afraid that this will attract a large number of refugees and migrants if they do not pursue a strict asylum policy.

Due to the fear of being deported, as well as the fact that registered asylum seekers in Aruba are not allowed to work, most refugees and migrants live in hiding from the authorities and make a living in the informal part of the economy, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.

As a result, it is difficult to know exactly how many have fled to the island. The figure of 17,000 is the UN refugee agency’s best estimate.

The second largest per capita host of refuges is Curacao, also a former Dutch colony in the Caribbean.

Conditions for Venezuelan refugees and migrants living here are just as difficult as on the neighbouring island.

There are great similarities between Aruba and Curaçao when it comes to their relationship with the Netherlands.

Both countries are autonomous, which means that they are not subject to EU asylum policy and refugee law. In one area, however, they differ. While Aruba has accepted to follow the UN Refugee Convention, Curaçao has refused to do so. This means that refugees in Curaçao have even less legal protection than in Aruba, which has been criticised by Amnesty International for detaining refugees and denying them protection.

Third is Montenegro, one of Europe’s youngest nations which only gained its independence in 2006.

The country is not yet a member of the European Union, and so not part of the EU’s support mechanism for the reception of refugees.

However, Montenegro has received more refugees in proportion to its population than any other European country in recent years.

When the war in Ukraine broke out, several million Ukrainians fled to European countries. Many settled in the countries bordering Ukraine. But Montenegro, a small country which is geographically remote from Ukraine, still received more refugees per capita than any of Ukraine’s neighbours.

UNHCR has praised Montenegro for the hospitality it has shown Ukrainian refugees. This positive attitude is one of the reasons why so many refugees have applied to Montenegro. There are close ties between these two Slavic peoples, who are also linguistically related.

Many Russian migrants have also settled in Montenegro. And despite their homelands being at war, Russians and Ukrainians appear to live peacefully side by side in Montenegro and attend the same churches.

The tiny island of Nauru, in the western Pacific Ocean, has received many boat refugees who were trying to get to Australia but were turned away by the Australian authorities.

This means that nine per cent of the island’s population of about 10,000 are refugees.

Armenia is fifth on a list of the countries hosting the most refugees on a per capita basis.

In September 2023, Azerbaijan attacked the Armenian enclave of Nagorno Karabakh, which is located inside Azerbaijan. The enclave had been controlled by Armenian-backed separatists since Armenia and Azerbaijan became independent in the 1990s. Following the attack, virtually the entire Armenian population of over 140,000 fled to Armenia.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have been in an ongoing conflict ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Russia has traditionally acted as a peacekeeper in the region, but the war in Ukraine has limited its ability to play the role it has previously played in the Caucasus.

Armenia had already integrated several hundred thousand people from the previous wave of refugees. Although the new arrivals have been welcomed, there are major challenges in finding new homes for such a large number of refugees who arrived almost overnight.

Next on the list are: Lebanon, 8.7 per cent; Colombia, 5.6 per cent; Czech Republic, 5.1 per cent; Moldova, 4.1 per cent; Estonia, 4.1 per cent.

Reference: https://www.nrc.no/perspectives/2024/these-10-countries-receive-the-most-refugees/