Somali diaspora

The Somali diaspora or Qurbajoogta refers to Somalis who were born in Greater Somalia and reside in areas of the world that they were not born in. The civil war in Somalia greatly increased the size of the Somali diaspora, as many Somalis moved from Greater Somalia primarily to Europe, North America, Southern Africa and Australia. There are also small Somali populations in other pockets of Europe and Asia. The UN estimates that in 2015, approximately 2 million people from Somalia were living outside of the country's borders. The distribution of Somalis abroad is uncertain, primarily due to confusion between the number of ethnic Somalis and the number of Somalia nationals. Whereas most recent Somali migrants in the diaspora emigrated as refugees and asylum seekers, many have since obtained either permanent residence or citizenship. A 2008 publication estimated the ethnic Somali international migrant population as 1,010,000, including around 300,000 in East and South Africa, 250,000 in the United States and Canada, 250,000 in Europe, 200,000 in the Middle East, and 10,000 in Australia, New Zealand and Asia. By the start of the Yemeni Civil War, the number of Somalis in Yemen was estimated to be 500,000. UN migration estimates of the international migrant stock 2015 suggest that 1,998,764 people from Somalia were living abroad. the number of refugees from Somalia registered with the UNHCR was 763,933. This is down from a peak of almost 990,000 in June 2013. The majority of these individuals were registered in Kenya (256,408), Yemen (253,755) and Ethiopia (198,670). According to USAID, many of the displaced persons in these adjacent territories are Bantus and other minorities. Somalis in Kenya and Somalis in South Africa About two thirds of all Somalis who live outside Somalia live in the neighbouring countries of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Yemen. Kenya hosted more than 313,000 in April 2017. About 255,000 were registered as refugees in Ethiopia.