In a world plagued by conflict and natural disasters, the number of people fleeing their homes and seeking refuge elsewhere in the country reached a record high of 60 million by the end of last year, according to new data.
Disasters, including meteorological events such as cyclones and floods in Asia, as well as prolonged conflict in countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Ethiopia, were behind the high levels of new displacement recorded last year, according to a report by the Centre Internal Displacement (IDMC) based in Geneva. “The world is falling apart, too many countries are falling apart,” said Jan Eggeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, founded by the IDMC in 1998 to document displaced people who would otherwise be “invisible”.
“2021 was, as we have documented here, a very bleak year, and 2022 is proving to be even worse,” he said, adding that the war in Ukraine could lead to a new record this year.
In all, 59.1 million people were living in displacement at the end of last year, up from 55 million in 2020, according to the annual report. The countries with the highest numbers of displaced were Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Colombia, Afghanistan and Yemen, according to the same source.
The report also does not count refugees – people leaving their homeland for other countries – although there is often a correlation between internal and cross-border trends.
“It’s an aggravating accusation against the people for their inability to anticipate and resolve conflicts,” Eggeland told reporters this week.
He also expressed concern that the Ukrainian crisis could divert money from elsewhere, saying that some countries were using the aid funds in their budgets to help Ukrainian refugees.
“This means that the money we have for the rest of the world will be reduced,” he said. The war in Ukraine is also increasing the cost of aid to the displaced because it has caused food and fuel prices to rise, he said.
Source: AMPE
Source: Capital
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