Number of forcibly displaced people exceeds 100 million for the first time

GENEVA – The number of people forced to flee conflict, violence, human rights violations and persecution has exceeded 100 million for the first time, propelled by the wars and conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan, Myanmar, the Sahel and Horn of Africa as well as Ukraine, the UN refugee agency has said.

“One hundred million is a stark figure – sobering and alarming in equal measure. It is a record that should never have been set,” said Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees.

“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,” Grandi said.

The displaced numbers were 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,” said the UNHCR.

The 100 million people forcibly displaced worldwide represents 1% of the global population, it said.

The displaced people included refugees and asylum seekers and 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,” 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,” he added.

He said that peace and stability are the only answers so that innocent people are not forced to gamble between acute danger at home or precarious flight and exile.