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Refugees

Another year, another record number of refugees

World Refugee Day comes as global displacement reaches a new high.

The number of people forcibly displaced around the world has doubled in the last 10 years. : Illustration by Michael Joiner, 360info CC BY 4.0 The number of people forcibly displaced around the world has doubled in the last 10 years. : Illustration by Michael Joiner, 360info CC BY 4.0

World Refugee Day comes as global displacement reaches a new high.

The global displacement crisis is among the most pressing humanitarian challenges of our time. The number of people forced to move from their homes — by armed conflict, human rights abuses, disasters and other factors — is higher than ever: nearly 120 million, according to a new report by the UN Refugee Agency. Forty percent of them are children.

The wars in Gaza and Ukraine have caused the displacement of millions of people within and beyond their borders. Millions more have been forced to flee where the media spotlight is far less bright.

Almost 14 million Syrians have been displaced since the outbreak of civil war in 2011. In Sudan, a factional war has driven almost 11 million people from their homes. Nearly 11 million Afghans remain displaced. Humanitarian crisis and conflict in Myanmar have driven the displacement of 2.8 million people, most of them since a military takeover in 2021. The list goes on: Colombia, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo all have displaced populations in the millions.

More than half of these — 76 million — are internally displaced people.

Unlike those who have crossed national borders and can seek legal and physical protection as refugees under international law, internally displaced people come under the responsibility of national authorities — which in many conflict situations have little effective authority.

Climate change is also increasingly a driver and a force multiplier for displacement. While “climate refugees” do not have formal recognition as refugees and the protections that go with it, there is an urgent search for solutions to this crisis within a crisis. An estimated 21.5 million people are displaced annually due to disasters and weather-related hazards.

In many countries, issues of migration and asylum are driving intense political debate and division. With the number of people forcibly displaced doubled in the last 10 years, the pressure to address this crisis keeps rising.

Amid multiple ongoing wars, climate change, political upheaval in democratic countries and a multilateral system facing severe dysfunction, finding durable solutions for tens of millions of displaced people is a complex challenge.

It will require political and economic commitments, efforts at building peace in entrenched conflict areas, enabling safe returns where possible, broadening support for community resettlement — and new thinking.

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