The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, says over 100 million people have been forced to flee conflict, violence, human rights violations and persecution.
The number which has crossed the staggering milestone of 100 million for the first time on record, is a result of the war in Ukraine and deadly conflicts in other parts of the world.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi says the data must ‘serve as a wake-up call’ for more action to promote peace and address all causes of forced displacement.
“One hundred million is a stark figure — sobering and alarming in equal measure. It’s a record that should never have been set.
This must serve as a wake-up call to resolve and prevent destructive conflicts, end persecution, and address the underlying causes that force innocent people to flee their homes,” Mr. Grandi said.
According to new data from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide rose towards 90 million by the end of 2021, propelled by new waves of violence or protracted conflict in countries including Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Myanmar, Nigeria, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
In addition, the war in Ukraine has displaced 8 million within the country this year, and more than 6 million refugee movements from Ukraine have been registered.
At over 1% of the global population, the overall figure is equivalent to the 14th most populous country in the world. It includes refugees and asylum seekers as well as the 53.2 million people displaced inside their borders by conflict, according to a recent report from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC).
“The international response to people fleeing war in Ukraine has been overwhelmingly positive,” Mr. Grandi said. “Compassion is alive and we need a similar mobilization for all crises around the world. But ultimately, humanitarian aid is a palliative, not a cure. To reverse this trend, the only answer is peace and stability so that innocent people are not forced to gamble between acute danger at home or precarious flight and exile.”
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri