AP PHOTOS: World Refugee Day shows global plight

AAA??Jun. 20, 2012?6:35 PM ET
AP PHOTOS: World Refugee Day shows global plight
The Associated Press??The Associated Press

A Rohingya Muslim girl sits at an unauthorized camp that houses Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled Myanmar during an ethnic strife in 1992, at Kutupalong, Bangladesh, Wednesday, June 20, 2012. World Refugee Day, a day initiated by the United Nations to raise awareness on the plight of refugees worldwide, is observed on June 20 every year. (AP Photo/ Saurabh Das)

A Rohingya Muslim girl sits at an unauthorized camp that houses Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled Myanmar during an ethnic strife in 1992, at Kutupalong, Bangladesh, Wednesday, June 20, 2012. World Refugee Day, a day initiated by the United Nations to raise awareness on the plight of refugees worldwide, is observed on June 20 every year. (AP Photo/ Saurabh Das)

Afghan refugee Ibraheem Rahees, 6, is seen in a slum, on World Refugee Day, on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, June 20, 2012. The Pakistani government and the United Nations refugee agency reached an agreement in March 2009 to allow some 1.7 million registered Afghan refugees living in Pakistan to continue sheltering there until at least 2012, thousands of them still live without electricity, running water and other basic services. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

A protester holds a banner, left, reading 'Thank you for hosting us' during a demonstration in the city of Cape Town, South Africa, Wednesday, June 20, 2012. Protesters took to the streets to mark World Refugee Day and protest against the closure of the refugee reception office in Cape Town. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam)

A young Rohingya Muslim boy sits at the entrance to his home at an unauthorized camp that houses Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled Myanmar during an ethnic strife in 1992, in Kutupalong, Bangladesh on World Refugee Day, Wednesday, June 20, 2012. World Refugee Day, a day initiated by the United Nations to raise awareness on the plight of refugees worldwide, is observed on June 20 every year. (AP Photo/ Saurabh Das)

A Rohingya Muslim baby rests in a swing at an unauthorized camp that houses Rohingya Muslim refugees who fled Myanmar during an ethnic strife in 1992, in Kutupalong, Bangladesh, on World Refugee Day, Wednesday, June 20, 2012. World Refugee Day, a day initiated by the United Nations to raise awareness on the plight of refugees worldwide, is observed on June 20 every year. (AP Photo/ Saurabh Das)

From Myanmar to Pakistan to Bangladesh and beyond, some 15.2 million people live as refugees, many for decades or more. Nearly half are children under the age of 18.

The United Nations established June 20 as World Refugee Day to highlight the plight of these millions driven from their countries by natural or man-made disasters.

A Tibetan refugee camp in Nepal was set up in 1960; one in Bangladesh that houses Muslims who fled Myanmar has been in operation since 1992.

The problems of refugees do not end when they return home. Re-integrating into a changed society poses its own challenges.

Here is a gallery of photos of refugees from around the world.

Associated Press

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