The US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) has released "World Refugee Survey 2006" which also reported that refugee protection for Iraqis was deteriorating by all measures.
In 2005, the number of refugees and asylum seekers increased to 12 million, half a million more than a year earlier.
An extra 644,500 Iraqi refugees alone were counted in Jordan and Syria in 2005 and the USCRI survey predicted that in a "more significant outflow" would follow.
"The deteriorating situation in Iraq has led to the refugee outflow some predicted at the onset of the war, which has only now materialised," the USCRI said.
’Deteriorating protection’
The non-profit group tracking the problem worldwide, also noted a ‘brain-drain’ in Iraq with over 40 percent of Iraqi professionals having fled the nation since the US-led invasion in 2003.
An estimated 351,000 Iraqi refugees mostly Shiite Muslims have fled to Syria, which now has the largest population of Iraqi Shiite Muslims outside of Iraq.
Also according to the report about 450,000 Iraqis, mainly those belonging to Christian minorities, have sought refuge in Jordan.
But the USCRI said neither Jordan nor Syria recognised the UN's call for temporary protection of refugees and both refuse entry to many new arrivals.
"We are concerned that protection for Iraqis is deteriorating," USCRI President Lavinia Limon said.
"Syria has begun to require residency authorisation so many refugees are forced to live underground. Jordan is not granting refugee status to Iraqis and refusing entry to many," Ms Limon said.
The USCRI has indicated that "a more significant outflow" of Iraqi refugees in the near future, because of the issuing of two million passports over the last 10 months.
’Warehousing’
The report hightlights concerns that eight million or two-thirds of the world's refugees remained "warehoused" or deprived of basic human rights as defined by the UN Refugee Convention for five years or more.
The largest number of refugees remained housed within the Middle East and Africa.
The survey showed that in 2001 the global refugee population hit 14.9 million but began to drop shortly after.
Last year though the population figure began to rise again with USCRI estimating the number of refugees at 12 million for 2005, at odds with the 8.4 million cited by the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) last week.