A/80/205 I. Introduction 1. Over time, the percentage of people “on the move” has remained fairly constant, with around 3 per cent of the world’s population living outside the country in which they were born. 1 This percentage clearly constitutes increasing numbers, as the world population has grown to over 8 billion. The distribution of such populations is far from even around the world. 2 The top 10 countries of origin accounted for almost 90 per cent of refugees in 2022, 3 and more than half of all refugees resided in 10 countries. 4 The average number of years that asylum-seekers and refugees await resettlement now stands at around 10; 5 for far too many, however, it lasts generations, and the annual rate of resettlement falls alarmingly short of the needs. 6 2. The freedom of religion or belief of people on the move is routinely overlooked, misunderstood or explicitly denied. The right to freedom of religion or belief can provide a framework for adjustment, connection, exploration of meaning and learning. Asylum-seekers and refugees, internally displaced persons, migrant workers and members of their families face heightened challenges with regard to such freedom compared with the wider population. 3. The right to freedom of religion or belief should be guaranteed to all persons on an equal basis. There is no room for equivocation in international legal obligations in that regard. It must be guaranteed equally for the documented and the undocumented; for citizens and non-citizens; for minorities and majorities; for those in their country of origin, those in transit and those who have arrived in their country of destination; for the forcibly displaced; for those in refugee camps and internally displace d person camps; and for those in offshore detention facilities, immigration detention centres, asylum accommodation, emergency transit mechanism centres and workers’ accommodation, and those living in designated industrial areas. 4. Entities claiming to uphold freedom of religion or belief cannot exclude people on the move from their purview and ignore them for reasons of political expediency. Given the existing inequalities, disdain or outright hostility 7 often faced by people in such contexts, freedom of religion or belief cannot be fully enjoyed in the absence of tailored assessments and corresponding law, policy and implementation. 5. The present report is aimed at emphasizing the urgent imperative of guaranteeing freedom of religion or belief for persons on the move, at recalling the robust protection of such freedom under international law and at outlining pertinent dimensions of violations of that freedom in practice. Calls and recommendations are made for steps towards the stronger realization of the freedom of religion or belief in __________________ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 25-11829 See https://worldmigrationreport.iom.int/msite/wmr-2024-interactive. General Assembly resolution 73/195. See https://worldmigrationreport.iom.int/what-we-do/world-migration-report-2024chapter2/refugees-and-asylum-seekers. Although the countries in the top 10 change frequently, they were as follows at the end of 2022: Syrian Arab Republic, Ukraine, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea. Ibid. In 2022, “for the seventh consecutive year, Türkiye was the largest host country in the world, with nearly 3.6 million refugees, mainly Syrians. Pakistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran were also among the top 10 refugee-hosting countries, as the two principal hosts of refugees from Afghanistan, the second-largest origin country. Uganda, the Russian Federation, Germany, the Sudan, Poland, Bangladesh and Ethiopia comprised the rest”. See https://refugeesmigrants.un.org/sites/default/files/180711_final_draft_0.pdf . See www.migrationdataportal.org/sites/g/files/tmzbdl251/files/2023 -06/Key_Global_Migration_ Figures_June_2023.pdf. A/HRC/55/47. 3/23