Middle East

2015 year-end information on the Middle East subregion is presented below. A summary of this can also be downloaded in PDF format. This subregion covers the following countries:

Subregion: Middle East

{"longitude":51.9375,"latitude":32.5468,"zoom_level":4}

Latest update of camps and office locations 13 Jan 2016. By clicking on the icons on the map, additional information is displayed.

CHOOSE A YEAR

2014
2015
2016

Budgets and Expenditure in Subregion Middle East

< Back

2015 {"categories":[2012,2013,2014,2015],"budget":[695.851374562,1445.38803915,1767.45606157,1956.138243929],"expenditure":[431.06647686,961.25416817,1099.48857212,1059.45956475]} {"categories":[2012,2013,2014,2015],"p1":[453.287096122,1060.74997701,1071.29315117,1171.649811879],"p2":[3.21056639,3.74482986,3.83262054,3.89799389],"p3":[29.91426377,27.30414868,39.59885527,35.76378805],"p4":[209.43944828,353.5890836,652.73143459,744.82665011]} {"categories":[2012,2013,2014,2015],"p1":[287.74575398,691.76318386,712.10525101,715.5914882],"p2":[1.08610169,1.35669238,3.0784008,2.16809421],"p3":[22.86569699,14.49497183,10.53576239,11.32961956],"p4":[119.3689242,253.6393201,373.76915792,330.37036278]}

Loading ...

View footnotes

People of Concern - 2015

[["Refugees",2303454],["Refugee-like situation",38146],["Asylum-seekers",67976],["IDPs",13498781],["Returned IDPs",1747],["Returned refugees",6122],["Stateless",374215],["Others of concern",8838]]

Loading ...

Plan Overview
Year-End Report

Response in 2015

During 2015, the Middle East subregion continued to face multiple and complex emergency situations on an unprecedented scale, with system-wide Level-3 emergencies in Iraq, the Syrian Arab Republic (Syria) and Yemen, heightened security risks across the region, and a dramatic surge of refugee movements towards Europe.

In Syria, for the estimated 6.5 million internally displaced, UNHCR continued to support the implementation of the 2015 Strategic Response Plan, leading Protection, Non-Food Items (NFI) and Shelter, and Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) sectors. UNHCR maximized the delivery of assistance and protection in the country, working across conflict lines and borders as authorized by the United Nations Security Council Resolutions 2139, 2165 and 2191 (2014).

In an effort to support the more than 4.7 million Syrian refugees in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt, UNHCR continued to work closely with governments and partners, co-leading the Regional Refugee and Resilience Plan (3RP) to address the protection and assistance needs of refugees, as well as the most vulnerable members of host communities.

In Iraq, the escalation of armed conflict and the volatile security situation resulted in nearly 1 million people displaced during 2015 alone. An estimated 3.2 million people have been displaced across the country since January 2014, and there are some 222,000 registered Iraqi refugees in the region. UNHCR continued to lead the Protection, NFI and Shelter, and CCCM clusters throughout Iraq. The Office continued to provide protection and support for Iraqi refugees, ensuring access to adequate services and promoting durable solutions. Despite new contributions for the Syria and Iraq emergencies, needs continued to outpace available funding.

In Yemen, despite the conflict and related constraints, UNHCR maintained protection monitoring, reception and services to more than 267,000 refugees (including some 18,000 Somali refugees in Kharaz camp), 9,800 asylum-seekers and 92,000 new arrivals. Lifesaving interventions were prioritized, including through expanding the financial assistance programme for refugees and, exceptionally, vulnerable asylum-seekers. UNHCR continued to lead the Protection and joint Shelter/NFI/CCCM clusters. Among the 2.5 million people internally displaced in Yemen by year-end, some 15,000 IDPs were assisted with cash assistance, legal and psychosocial assistance, while more than 288,000 IDPs were reached with core relief items in 19 of the 22 Yemeni governorates.

Operations

Operations in Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen are presented in separate country pages.

Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf: Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Member States acquired an increased regional and international role in the political and humanitarian spheres. UNHCR focused on advocating for non-refoulement, accessible and favorable asylum space, refugee status determination processing, and durable solutions beyond local integration. UNHCR’s partnership with GCC countries translated into unprecedented support for the humanitarian responses worldwide, particularly for the Syria situation. The Office continued its collaboration with the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, as well as with civil society actors and private entities.

Summary (ENG)

Operational Environment and Strategy

Conflict and indiscriminate violence has plagued large areas of the Middle East in 2014, creating unprecedented protection and humanitarian needs for people of concern to UNHCR. The lack of prospect for peace or stability in the region in the near future offers little hope of the situation improving in 2015.

Home to several overlapping crises and humanitarian emergencies, the Middle East is likely to witness further internal and external displacement, with vast numbers of existing refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) requiring direct humanitarian support.

As the war in the Syrian Arab Republic (Syria) enters its fourth year, a return to widespread violence in Iraq threatens to affect millions, and Yemen’s fragile political transition risks sparking renewed internal clashes further affecting the lives of extremely vulnerable IDPs and refugees.

In an increasingly volatile and dangerous environment for both people of concern and local/international humanitarian actors, maintaining its presence and preparedness to assess and reach affected populations will be a major challenge for UNHCR.

While the international community struggles to effectively address multiple crises, and their implications beyond the Middle East, UNHCR’s immediate priority will be to maintain the most favourable protection environment for people of concern, through active advocacy and support to the affected national and local entities.

Encouraging conformity with international standards will take into account the generosity already shown by many hosting countries and the growing challenges of ensuring peaceful coexistence between refugees and local populations.

In terms of basic services and essential needs, UNHCR will need to maintain considerable resources for the distribution of emergency relief to millions. While the majority of refugees and IDPs in the region will continue to live in local communities, those camps already in existence or due to be built in 2015 will require significant funding. Meanwhile, supporting people outside camps will need greater monitoring to ensure the most vulnerable are reached, wherever there may be.

UNHCR will maintain overall coordination of the humanitarian community’s refugee response and lead in the areas of IDP protection, camp coordination and camp management (CCCM), as well as shelter and non-food item distribution. This inter-agency coordination is essential in order to maintain the ambitious humanitarian strategies made necessary by the scale of the region’s challenges and needs.

The organization and its partners, particularly WFP, UNDP and UNICEF, as well as civil society organizations, will pioneer ways to bridge the critical link between the humanitarian refugee response and refugee-hosting countries’ need for resilience and stabilization in a context of protracted regional turmoil.

The organization will also build on the important contributions of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) and encourage their further leadership of and support for resource mobilization and fundraising. Moreover, in an extremely fragile and volatile context where durable solutions for refugees and IDPs are scarce, continued burden sharing through the offer of resettlement and humanitarian admissions will remain a priority for the most vulnerable.

Response and Implementation

Operations in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen, with budgets of USD 25 million and more, are presented in separate country chapters. For other countries in the subregion where UNHCR operates, please see below.

In Israel, UNHCR will work with the Government and civil society actors to address the identified protection needs of asylum-seekers and refugees. Key activities will include: providing advice and assistance to individuals of concern; contributing to community projects; monitoring conditions in detention facilities, including Holot facility; and advocating laws and policies that protect the asylum-seeker community.

The GCC countries are host to millions of migrant workers, many originating from refugee-producing countries. Strict immigration and labour laws result in many overstaying their visas or becoming irregular as a result of changes in their employment or sponsorship. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of migrant workers cross into Saudi Arabia illegally through Yemen.

Since last year, GCC countries have cracked down on irregular migrant workers in a drive to regularize labour and increase employment of nationals. Accordingly, UNHCR will continue its multi-faceted approach to protection, including capacity building, advocating non-refoulement, and finding durable solutions for beneficiaries, in close coordination and partnership with competent GCC actors. Certain populations of concern to UNHCR, such as Syrians and Rohingyas, can be given exceptional treatment, such as access to education and health care.

From its Regional Office in Saudi Arabia (which covers Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates), as well as its offices in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait, the organization will build on recent financial contributions to emergencies from GCC governments, national institutions and private entities, in order to foster greater coordination and participation towards more effective humanitarian delivery.

UNHCR will continue to raise awareness about its mandate, strategies, objectives, appeals and operations, and to promote a culture of transparency and shared responsibility, with the aim of mobilizing sustained resources for its field operations.

Summary (ENG) or Résumé (FR)

Budget and Expenditure
Voluntary Contributions

2015 Budget and Expenditure in Middle East | USD

Operation		Pillar 1 Refugee programme	Pillar 2 Stateless programme	Pillar 3 Reintegration projects	Pillar 4 IDP projects	Total
Iraq	Budget Expenditure	136,096,621 102,035,214	2,045,988 1,499,491	35,763,788 11,329,620	382,158,525 151,481,108	556,064,922 266,345,433
Israel	Budget Expenditure	3,207,939 2,755,898	0 0	0 0	0 0	3,207,939 2,755,898
Jordan	Budget Expenditure	328,877,516 208,743,090	0 0	0 0	0 0	328,877,516 208,743,090
Lebanon	Budget Expenditure	480,453,635 318,557,297	1,242,275 205,636	0 0	0 0	481,695,910 318,762,933
Saudi Arabia Regional Office	Budget Expenditure	4,577,895 3,321,862	320,000 258,138	0 0	0 0	4,897,895 3,580,000
Syrian Arab Republic	Budget Expenditure	56,815,990 23,272,341	179,730 126,601	0 0	309,778,397 150,368,031	366,774,117 173,766,973
Syrian Regional Refugee Coordination Office	Budget Expenditure	35,614,693 22,878,549	0 0	0 0	0 0	35,614,693 22,878,549
United Arab Emirates	Budget Expenditure	2,971,041 2,242,609	110,000 78,228	0 0	0 0	3,081,041 2,320,836
Yemen	Budget Expenditure	54,533,885 30,629,251	0 0	0 0	52,889,729 28,521,224	107,423,614 59,150,474
Regional activities	Budget Expenditure	68,500,596 1,155,377	0 0	0 0	0 0	68,500,596 1,155,377
Total	Budget Expenditure	1,171,649,812 715,591,488	3,897,994 2,168,094	35,763,788 11,329,620	744,826,650 330,370,363	1,956,138,244 1,059,459,565