False Claim: “85% of Refugees Are Muslim” – DW Investigation Reveals Truth

European nations are grappling with migration policy challenges as a viral claim about refugee demographics resurfaces amid heated political debates across the continent.

The claim that “85% of the world’s refugees are Muslim” and that “they don’t seek asylum in 56 Muslim countries” has gained renewed traction on social media platforms, appearing in multiple languages including German, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, French, Italian and Spanish. This misinformation comes as the European Union prepares to implement its new Migration and Asylum Pact, which includes a “Solidarity pool” mechanism set to take effect in mid-2026.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there were approximately 42.5 million refugees and 8.4 million asylum-seekers worldwide as of mid-2025. However, the refugee agency does not collect comprehensive data on the religious affiliations of refugees, making the 85% claim impossible to verify.

“The type of comprehensive data needed to make the statement that 85 percent of all refugees are Muslim does not exist,” confirms the UNHCR.

While there is no definitive data on refugee religious demographics, available information suggests the claim is false. For the broader migrant population, the Pew Research Center has found that 47 percent are Christian and only 29 percent are Muslim—significantly lower than the alleged 85 percent figure.

Edgar Scrase of the UNHCR notes that “given that Ukrainians and Venezuelans alone comprise nearly one-third of all refugees, including other people in need of international protection, the true proportion of refugees that are Muslims is likely to be much lower.” Both Ukraine and Venezuela are predominantly Christian countries.

The second part of the claim—that Muslim refugees avoid seeking asylum in Muslim countries—is also demonstrably false. At least seven of the world’s largest refugee-hosting nations are predominantly Muslim: Bangladesh, Iran, Lebanon, Jordan, Türkiye, Chad, and Pakistan. Together, these countries host approximately 30% of the global refugee population. All are members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which recently reinstated Syria as its 57th member.

The UNHCR emphasizes that the majority of people fleeing conflict and persecution remain in their countries of origin. Those who do cross borders typically seek refuge in neighboring countries, which often share similar religious demographics. For example, Syrian refugees primarily flee to neighboring Turkey, while Afghan refugees predominantly seek asylum in Pakistan and Iran—all Muslim-majority countries.

The viral misinformation appears designed to inflame tensions around migration policy at a time when several European nations, including Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland, have seen immigration emerge as a central issue in recent elections. Under the EU’s new Migration and Asylum Pact, Germany may qualify for exemption from accepting additional asylum seekers until 2026, according to recent European Commission assessments.

Migration experts caution against making broad generalizations about refugee populations, noting that religious persecution often targets specific minorities within countries. Janis Kreuder from the UNHCR points out that “not all citizens of a country are equally likely to have become refugees. See, for example, the Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, who are majority Muslim, while Myanmar is a Buddhist majority country.”

As political debates around migration policies intensify across Europe and North America, fact-checking organizations continue to monitor and address misinformation that could influence public perception and policy discussions.