I. Introduction
1. A significant increase in the numbers
of persons of concern to UNHCR brought new challenges in 2006. While there
was a 14 per cent increase in refugee numbers from the previous year, the
Office's involvement, together with other humanitarian partners, in protecting
and assisting internally displaced persons (IDPs) under the inter-agency
cluster approach, resulted in a doubling of IDP figures. Thanks to better
data capturing, many more stateless people have been identified, also swelling
numbers.
2. Despite a plethora of complex challenges,