UN: wars slow refugee returns to record low

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UN: wars slow refugee returns to record low

By ELIANE ENGELER (AP) – 1 hour ago

GENEVA — Entrenched conflicts in Afghanistan, Somalia and other countries prevented a record number of refugees from returning home last year, the U.N. refugee agency said Tuesday.

Only an estimated 251,500 refugees went home in 2009 — the lowest number since 1990, the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said in its annual report.

The world's total number of refugees stood at 15.2 million, according to the report. Of those, around 2.9 million were Afghans, 1.8 million Iraqis and 680,000 Somalis. That total also includes 4.8 million Palestinian refugees managed by a separate U.N. agency....read more