Afghanistan, Iraq drive up refugee toll

The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan drove up the number of world refugees for a second straight year in 2007, the United Nations said yesterday.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said there were 11.4 million refugees under its responsibility at the end of 2007, up from 9.9 million the year before.

"Much of the increase in refugees in 2007 was a result of the volatile situation in Iraq," the UNHCR said in a report, noting Iraqis and Afghans were nearly half the refugees under its care.