EuroVerify investigates a claim shared by a politician from the far-right Portuguese Chega party, stating that 85% of refugees are of the Muslim faith.

Lisbon

A far-right Portuguese politician recently claimed that 85% of the world's refugees are Muslim and suggested that most seek asylum in Western countries. However, data from the UN Refugee Agency shows that while a significant proportion of refugees come from Muslim-majority countries, precise religious breakdowns are difficult to obtain due to changing global circumstances.

Recent figures indicate that Ukrainians and Venezuelans, both from predominantly Christian countries, make up nearly a third of the global refugee population. Additionally, most refugees are hosted in countries like Iran and Turkey, not Western nations. A UN spokesperson stated that it is unlikely 85% of refugees are Muslim, contradicting the politician's claim.

Are the vast majority of the world's refugees of Muslim background?

Are 85% of the world's refugees really Muslim? A politician from the far-right Portuguese Che Guevara party, which is known for espousing anti-migrant views, alleged online that 85% of refugees are Muslim. He also claimed that instead of seeking asylum in other Muslim countries, they choose to flee to the West. Now, according to the UN's Refugee Agency, the global refugee population, including people in need of international protection, reached nearly 42.7 million in 2024. However, it is difficult to access precise and up-to-date breakdowns of refugees' religions. This is due to wars, economic crises and natural disasters impacting the makeup of the global refugee population. Within Europe, Germany was the European country which hosted the most refugees in 2024. Government research from 2021 revealed that over a six-year span, 69.7% of refugees in Germany were Muslim, but these figures predate Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Now, the latest data from the UN's Refugee Agency revealed that nearly 7 out of 10 of all refugees and people in need of international protection came from these five countries in 2024. Although a country may have a majority Muslim population, this does not mean that all refugees who originate from there are Muslim. The main religion in Syria, Afghanistan and South Sudan is Islam. However, Ukrainians and Venezuelans alone made up nearly one-third of all refugees and other people in need of international protection. These two countries are predominantly Christian. A UN spokesperson told Euronews that this made it unlikely that 85% of refugees are Muslim. Contrary to the claim that refugees predominantly seek refuge in the West, Germany is the only European country which features among the top seven host countries. Iran and Turkey are the top countries where refugees have sought asylum, while four out of the seven have a predominantly Muslim population.

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