The 2006 Global Trends report is the fourth
edition in the series. It is published ahead of the 2006 Statistical Yearbook,
to be issued later in the year, which will provide a more detailed analysis
of the 2006 data. It reviews the trends and changes in 2006 in the global
populations for which UNHCR has been entrusted with a responsibility by
the United Nations General Assembly. These include refugees, returnees
and stateless and internally displaced persons (IDPs), collectively referred
to in the report as "persons of concern".
Limited to populations for which UNHCR
has a mandate, the report thus does not purport to depict a comprehensive
picture of global forced displacement. For example, some 4.3 million Palestinian
refugees who fall under the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works
Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) are not included
in the report. Likewise, the conflict generated internally displaced persons
covered in the report are limited to those benefiting directly or indirectly
from UNHCR's protection and assistance activities.