GENEVA (AN) — The number of people uprooted by violence and persecution worldwide rose by 2 million in the past year, and more than doubled in the past decade, the U.N. refugee agency reported.
In its latest Global Trends report on Thursday, UNHCR estimated the number of people who were forcibly displaced from their homes reached 122.1 million as of the end of April, up from 120 million a year earlier.
"We are living in a time of intense volatility in international relations, with modern warfare creating a fragile, harrowing landscape marked by acute human suffering," UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said in calling for a redoubling of efforts at establishing peace and long-term solutions.
With global aid cuts, including a severe pullback in U.S. funding, causing humanitarian funding to evaporate, the number of people displaced by war, violence and persecution worldwide is untenably high, UNHCR said.
One of the few "bright spots," it said, was an increase in the number of people able to return home, mainly in Syria, due to the fall of the Assad government. As of mid-May, it said, more than half a million Syrians crossed back over the border to go home, while another 1.2 million people who were displaced within Syria returned to their areas of origin.
"Even amid the devastating cuts, we have seen some rays of hope over the last six months," Grandi said. "Nearly 2 million Syrians have been able to return home after over a decade uprooted. The country remains fragile, and people need our help to rebuild their lives again."
Rich nations only take in a quarter of all refugees
As of the end of 2024, UNHCR estimated, as many as 123.2 million people were forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights abuses and public order disturbances. The cumulative figures are drawn from years of wars, violence and persecution.
That was an increase of 7 million people, or 6%, compared to the end of 2023. The numbers of internally displaced people during the same time spiked to 73.5 million, up by more than 9%.
The trend this year largely depends on the severity of funding cuts, and whether fighting keeps up in places like Congo, Sudan and Ukraine and situations improve in Afghanistan, South Sudan and Syria.
Some 67% of the people who crossed borders to flee were sheltering in neighboring countries, which runs "contrary to widespread perceptions in wealthier regions," the U.N. refugee agency pointed out, adding that low and middle-income nations host 73% of the world's refugees.
But some 60% of all people forced to flee never leave their country, it said. Sudan's civil war made it the world's largest displacement crisis, with more than 14 million people displaced, UNHCR said, surpassing Syria's 13.5 million, Afghanistan's 10 million and Ukraine's 8.8 million.
