San Diego, which has long been one of the largest refugee resettlement communities in California, has large populations of people from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. The data available, however, indicates that there has been a significant increase in these communities in San Diego since the last census in 2010. A June 2020 report by UC San Diego and the city of San Diego found that the fastest growing foreign-born population in the city came from Syria, with a growth of 866.3 percent over the past five years. They largely resettled to places in the city of San Diego, El Cajon and Spring Valley. San Diego County refugee arrival reports for the past few years indicate that Afghanistan and Iraq remain some of the top countries of origin for newly arriving refugees.

Source: The North Africa Journal March 18, 2021 21:22 UTC