For the first time in history, the number of displaced people worldwide has exceeded 100 million. The war in Ukraine and other conflicts are responsible for this development, as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva announced in a broadcast on Monday. “This is a record that should never have been achieved,” warned UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.
“This should be a wake-up call to resolve and prevent destructive conflict, end persecution and address the causes that force innocent people to flee.” The figure includes refugees and asylum seekers, as well as 53.2 million internally displaced people.
By the end of 2021, the number of displaced people worldwide had risen to 90 million. According to UNHCR, this was triggered by new waves of violence or protracted conflicts in countries such as Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Myanmar, Nigeria, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Furthermore, the war in Ukraine this year has displaced eight million people within the country and more than six million have fled abroad.
“The international response to people fleeing the war in Ukraine has been overwhelmingly positive,” Grandi said. “Compassion is alive and we need a similar mobilization for all crises around the world.” Humanitarian aid, however, is ultimately just a “soothing” and “not a cure”. “To reverse the trend, there is only one answer: peace and stability,” said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
On 16 June, UNHCR publishes its annual report “Global Trends” with global, regional and national data on forced displacement for 2021. It already contains updates until April 2022. (apa)