Forced displacement hits record 110 million people

Roughly 110 million have been forced to flee their homes due to human rights violations, war and persecution, revealed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

The biggest increase of forced displacements.

The 2022 end-year total represents a 19 million increase compared to the end of 2021. This pushed the total to 108.4 million by the end of 2022. This is also reportedly the biggest ever jump between years says the UNHCR in its annual Forced Displacement report.

However, the number has since risen past 110 million. Mostly due to Sudan’s ongoing conflict, revealed the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. “We have 110 million people that have fled because of conflict, persecution, discrimination and violence, often mixed with other motives – in particular the impact of climate change,” Grandi told journalists in Geneva, reports France24. “It’s quite an indictment on the state of our world,” he said.

What’s the difference between asylum seekers and refugees?

Refugees are people forced to flee their homes. They are unable to return home until conditions in their homelands are safe, explains the International Rescue Committee. They define asylum seekers as people seeking international protection from “dangers in their home country,”. However their “refugee status hasn’t been determined legally”.

According to the UNHCR’s report, 76% of the world’s refugees and those in need of international protection were hosted in low- or middle-income countries. Türkiye hosted nearly 3.6 million refugees – the largest population worldwide – followed by Iran with 3.4 million.

Grandi says he is concerned about countries working to introduce tougher rules on admitting refugees and implementing push-backs. “We see increasingly a reluctance on the part of states to fully adhere to the principles of the (1951 refugee) convention, even states that have signed it,” Grandi told the media, reports Al Jazeera.

52% of all refugees and those in need of international protection came from just three countries: Syria (6.5 million), Ukraine (5.7 million) and Afghanistan (5.7 million).

Meanwhile, the report indicates that 339,300 refugees were able to return home in 2022. 114,300 people resettled in a third country.

“These figures show us that some people are far too quick to rush to conflict, and way too slow to find solutions,” writes Grandi in the report. “The consequence is devastation, displacement, and anguish for each of the millions of people forcibly uprooted from their homes.”