The number of displaced people in the world has reached an unprecedented level, with an estimated 65.3 million individuals forced to flee their homes due to violence and conflict, according to a new report by the UN’s refugee agency.
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The previous year, 2014, there were 60 million displaced people recorded, then the highest number of refugees worldwide since World War II. “Through our steadfast support and positive engagement in the African peace and security architecture, we hope to resolve and prevent the conflict and instability which force people away from their homes in the first place”, Gigaba said. “The message that they have carried is: ‘If you don’t solve problems, problems will come to you'”.
To bring home the issue, the UN Refugee Agency posted this poignant graphic which reads: “Every minute, 24 people are displaced”.
Elsewhere in the world, people fleeing drug gangs in Central America contributed to a 17 percent rise in displacement in the region, while refugees from Asia and the Pacific accounted for nearly a sixth of global refugees and internally displaced people in 2015. At the end of a year ago, more than half of all refugees were from three countries: Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia.
A record two million new asylum claims were lodged in industrialised countries past year, the United Nations report said. Syrians are second, at 4.9 million, Afghans are next at 2.7 million, and Somalians at 1.1 million.
Another 21.3 million were refugees and some 3.2 million more were seeking asylum. That’s more than the population of the UK.
Grandi, asked about stalled relocation, said: “There is no Plan B for Europe”.
Ukegbu expressed her organisation’s readiness to continue to work with UNHCR in ensuring the welfare of refugees and internally displaced persons across the country. “Their numbers may vary… but it is inevitable”. In 2015, developing nations housed 86 percent of the world’s refugees – 13.9 million people. In particular, the Least Developed Countries – those least able to meet the development needs of their own citizens, let alone the humanitarian needs often associated with refugee crises – provided asylum to over 4 million refugees.
Mr. Grandi did not give examples, but the political temperature this year has been dominated by populists such as Donald Trump and European nationalists who want to tighten borders and restrict the flow of migrants – including refugees – from poorer countries, especially Muslim nations. The refugee agency estimates that half of those displaced are below the age of 18, The Independent reported.
Refugees fleeing the Middle East attempt to enter Europe.
Unfortunately, no. The number of refugees resettling slowly increased from about 80,000 people in 2011 to more than 100,000 past year.
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Conflicts that generate high numbers of refugees (such as those in Afghanistan and Somalia) are lasting longer than in the past. This figure shows that one in every 113 people on the face of the earth is an asylum seeker or refugee.
