There are now 55 million people living in internal displacement worldwide, a new report has revealed.
The report was released today, Thursday, May 20, 2021, by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).
It said the year 2020 was characterized by intense storms, persistent conflicts and explosions of violence, forcing 40.5 million people to become newly displaced within their countries.
The 40.5 million is said to be highest number of newly displaced reported in 10 years, bringing the total number of people living in internal displacement around the world to a record 55 million, the report revealed.
NRC boss, Jan Egeland in a tweet described the findings of the report as “shocking.”
“We are failing to protect the world’s most vulnerable people from conflict and disasters”, he tweeted.
Shocking: Our latest report shows that a person was forced to flee their home inside their own country every single SECOND last year. We are desperately failing to protect the world’s most vulnerable people from conflict and disaster. https://t.co/5PSFRA98ch pic.twitter.com/rQoeqVQqva
— Jan Egeland (@NRC_Egeland) May 20, 2021
The report added that about three-quarters of the people who fled internally in 2020 were victims of natural disasters, especially those related to extreme weather conditions.
The report revealed that cyclones, monsoon rains and floods hit highly exposed and densely populated areas in Asia and the Pacific.
The Atlantic suffered hurricane season, it said, pointing out that, “was the most active on record.”
“Extended rainy seasons across the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa uprooted millions more,” according to the report.
By Melvin Tarlue