It is little known by most Sri Lankans that there are refugees and people seeking asylum in Sri Lanka, said UNHCR's Representative Michael Zwack said.

Issuing a statement to mark the World Refugee Day on June 20, the UNHCR's Representative said, although numbers are very small in comparison to most countries, Sri Lanka currently hosts 236 registered refugees and 141 asylum seekers.

We appreciate the good cooperation received by UNHCR from government, he said.

According to UNHCR, Sri Lanka is one country refugees are slowly starting to return to after the conflict has ended. Since 201, some 2,900 refugees, mainly from Tamil Nadu in India, have returned with the help of UNHCR, and they continue to arrive at steady numbers. In addition, over 200 refugees returned on their own accord. According to UNHCR's latest Global Trends statistics for 2010 just released, that there are 141, 063 Sri Lankan refugees and 8, 563 Sri Lankan asylum seekers in different countries around the world – the majority in India.

Meanwhile, UNHCR in a report released last year said, given the cessation of hostilities, Sri Lankans originating from the north of the country are no longer in need of international protection under broader refugee criteria or complementary forms of protection solely on the basis of risk of indiscriminate harm.

The UN Refugee Agency releasing its report on 5 July, 2010, titled 'Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from Sri Lanka', further said that human rights and security situation in Sri Lanka has improved.

'In light of the improved human rights and security situation in Sri Lanka, there is no longer a need for group-based protection mechanisms or for a presumption of eligibility for Sri Lankans of Tamil ethnicity originating from the north of the country', UNHCR report stated.

Currently more than 43 million people are displaced by violence around the world. Europe is no longer home to them. The vast majority – about 80 percent – are hosted and cared for in developing countries, the statement said.

Today's chronicle conflicts are a cause for special concern: What we see is that as new conflicts flared old ones are left unresolved. This leads to new displacement on the one hand and millions of people being prevented from returning home on the other. Fewer than 200,000 refugees went home in 2010, the lowest number in 20 years, the UNHCR statement said.

It is necessary for the international community to step forward and act. Whether it to be keep borders open to those seeking safety from violence or persecution, or to provide solutions to long-term refugees. We need to invest in peace, people need to be helped to go home, or to be given a chance to start new lives, it further said.