The number of refugees from Myanmar rose to 490,300 by the end of last year, up from 451,800 in the previous year, with Bangladesh hosting the largest number of 276,200, according to the Global Trends report published yesterday by UNHCR ahead of World Refugee Day which falls on 20 June.
Other countries with large numbers of Myanmar refugees included Thailand (102,600), Malaysia (87,000), and India (15,600).
The report quoted the main reasons for displacement as being war, violence and persecution.