Last year, the number of displaced people worldwide reached a record high, with approximately 120 million individuals forced to flee their homes due to wars and conflicts. This figure is equivalent to the population of the 12th largest country in the world, similar in size to Japan. The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) released this report, titled Global Trends Report.
Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, highlighted the significance of this high number of displaced people. He pointed out that this marks the 12th consecutive year in which the number of displaced people has increased, leading to countless human tragedies. Grandi called for urgent action to address the root causes of forced displacement.
Several recent situations in countries like Sudan, Gaza, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), and Myanmar have also contributed to new displacements. For example, by the end of 2023, over 10.8 million Sudanese remained uprooted while 1.7 million people were displaced in Gaza due to Israeli attacks. Syria continues to face its largest displacement crisis, with 13.8 million people forcibly displaced both within and outside its borders.
The report indicated that most displacement came from people fleeing conflicts within their own countries; this number reached 68.3 million – a nearly 50 percent increase over five years ago. Additionally, there were an estimated 43.4 million refugees who needed international protection; most were hosted by neighboring low and middle-income countries that produce less than twenty percent of global income.
The UNHCR emphasized improved cooperation and concerted efforts to address conflict human rights violations and climate change as crucial steps towards preventing future increases in displacement figures.
Without such actions, we risk seeing more suffering and costly humanitarian responses as numbers continue to rise.
Overall it is clear that forced migration is a critical issue that requires immediate attention from governments worldwide
