Where refugees in South Carolina are arriving from

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Within the first five months of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in early February 2022, the U.S. admitted more than 100,000 Ukrainian refugees. Most of these refugees were admitted through a special program called humanitarian parole, which falls outside the scope of the data tracking carried out by the Refugee Processing Center. Humanitarian parole allows refugees who meet certain criteria to gain temporary legal status in the U.S. and applications are processed differently than traditional refugee resettlement applications.

In November 2022, the greatest number of refugees admitted by the U.S. came from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, and Ukraine. Each nation struggles with a unique set of circumstances that can make their citizens unsafe if they stay in their home country.

For the last three decades, the DRC has been struggling with a vast humanitarian crisis that has left millions of people displaced, both internally and externally, with many people fleeing to neighboring countries. Myanmar's sitting government is currently engaged in a war against its people, and the country is expected to have approximately 1.2 million refugees seeking asylum by the end of 2022.

Stacker referenced data from The Refugee Processing Center to compile statistics on the number of refugees and their countries of origin resettled in South Carolina in November 2022.

November refugee statistics
Countries where refugees arrived from in November
South Carolina
#1. Ukraine: 21
#2. Colombia: 13
#3. Guatemala: 10
#4. Syria: 8
#5. Armenia: 5
#6. Eritrea: 1

National
#1. Democratic Republic of the Congo: 414
#2. Burma: 366
#3. Ukraine: 227
#4. Syria: 199
#5. Afghanistan: 169

States that accepted the most refugees in November
#1. California: 145
#2. New York: 136
#3. Texas: 132
#4. Pennsylvania: 131
#5. Washington: 123

Read on to see the countries that South Carolina has accepted the most refugees from since November 2022


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#1. Ukraine


Refugees that arrived from Ukraine since November 2022
South Carolina: 24

National: 299
Top states
#1. Washington: 102
#2. California: 58
#3. Pennsylvania: 25
#4. South Carolina: 24
#5. Ohio: 14


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#2. Guatemala


Refugees that arrived from Guatemala since November 2022
South Carolina: 18

National: 267
Top states
#1. California: 34
#2. New York: 26
#3. Florida: 23
#4. Georgia: 18
#4. North Carolina: 18


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#3. Colombia


Refugees that arrived from Colombia since November 2022
South Carolina: 13

National: 95
Top states
#1. Pennsylvania: 15
#2. Texas: 13
#2. South Carolina: 13
#2. North Carolina: 13
#5. Kentucky: 9


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#4. Democratic Republic of the Congo


Refugees that arrived from Democratic Republic of the Congo since November 2022
South Carolina: 10

National: 1,032
Top states
#1. Kentucky: 93
#2. Ohio: 89
#3. Wisconsin: 60
#4. Pennsylvania: 54
#5. Michigan: 53


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#5. Syria


Refugees that arrived from Syria since November 2022
South Carolina: 8

National: 469
Top states
#1. Michigan: 64
#2. Washington: 35
#3. Ohio: 28
#3. Illinois: 28
#3. Kentucky: 28


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#6. Armenia


Refugees that arrived from Armenia since November 2022
South Carolina: 5

National: 19
Top states
#1. California: 14
#2. South Carolina: 5


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#6. Russia


Refugees that arrived from Russia since November 2022
South Carolina: 5

National: 9
Top states
#1. South Carolina: 5
#2. Washington: 4


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#8. Eritrea


Refugees that arrived from Eritrea since November 2022
South Carolina: 1

National: 86
Top states
#1. Colorado: 11
#2. Tennessee: 10
#2. North Carolina: 10
#4. Indiana: 8
#5. lowa: 7