ALBAWABA - A report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) revealed that in 2023 alone, an estimated 117.3 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, and human rights violations, with the number expected to exceed 120 million by the end of 2024.
The number witnessed an increase of 8 percent or 8.8 million people compared to the end of 2022 and has risen continuously for the past 12 years. The report added that 1 in every 69 people is forcibly displaced, which makes up for 1.5% of the entire world population.
Multiple wars have erupted across the world causing massive numbers of people to flee their homes seeking safety from the atrocities forced upon them.
The power struggle in Sudan broke out in April 2023, driving the country to plunge into one of the largest humanitarian and displacement crises in the world. More than 6 million people were displaced within the country, with a further 1.2 million fleeing to neighboring countries.
The war on Gaza has forced up to 1.7 million people (or over 75 percent of the population) out of their homes, between December and October alone. Most of them were forcibly displaced multiple times.
An UNRWA report revealed that more than seven out of every 10 people in the Gaza Strip) are currently displaced; families already displaced multiple times are on the move again due to military operations and Israeli evacuation orders.
As of 9 June, almost all Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have left Rafah, with fewer than 100,000 people who stayed in the area. All UNRWA shelters in Rafah have been forced to vacate.
The report also had a section, where the alarm for the growing number of refugees has risen, as wars continue to rage through various parts of the world. The number of refugees has quadrupled compared to the numbers a decade ago.
The worldwide refugee population climbed by 7% this year, reaching 43.4 million. This comprises 31.6 million refugees and people in a refugee-like situation, with 5.8 million additional people in need of international protection under the UNHCR mission, and 6 million Palestinian refugees under the UNRWA mandate.
Most people who were forcibly displaced remained within the borders of their countries and never crossed international borders. Known as IDPs: Internally Displaced People, they make up 58 percent of the forcibly displaced people around the world.
At the end of 2023, 68.3 million people remained internally displaced due to conflict and violence. An estimated 9.1 million people were displaced within Sudan, the largest internally displaced population ever reported. This was followed by Syria (7.2 million), and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (6.7 million).
