Rabat – The number of people who were forced to flee conflict zones worldwide has exceeded 100 million for the first time on record, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The figure hit 90 million at the end of 2021, propelled by a range of conflicts, human rights violations, and violence in countries including Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Myanmar, and Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, the ongoing Ukrainian crisis has displaced more than eight million people since the beginning of the Russian invasion in February.
Commenting on the alarming numbers, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said that “it’s a record that should never have been set.”
Grandi warned, “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.”
A recent report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) highlighted that the figure includes refugees and asylum seekers as well, noting that nearly 53.2 million people were displaced inside their borders.
In a span of six months only, the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) had risen to nearly 50.9 million by mid-2021, an increase of 5% compared to a year earlier.
While armed conflicts and human rights violations are the major cause of displacement, the report highlighted that the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, extreme weather and climate change consequences had created additional challenges for displaced people.
In a 2021 report, UNHCR estimated that the number of people forcibly displaced globally exceeded 84 million by mid-2021, an increase from the estimated 82.4 million at the end of 2020.
Syria continued to account for the world’s largest refugee population last year, followed by Venezuelans and Afghans who made up the third largest group.
Turkey became the country who hosted the most refugees last year (3.6 million), followed by Colombia (1.7 million), Uganda (1.47 million), Pakistan (1.43 million), and Germany (1.2 million).
In a report highlighting the humanitarian urgency and worldwide significance of the escalating conflict in Ukraine, the World Health Organization noted that a total of 18 million people have so far been affected by the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
“The international response to people fleeing war in Ukraine has been overwhelmingly positive,” UNHCR’s Grandi concluded.
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