People forcibly displaced due to conflict surpasses 100 million, says UNHCR

MOSCOW - The number of people forced to flee their homes, escaping hostilities, violence, human rights violations and persecution has exceeded 100 million, with conflicts across the world aggravating the situation, reported Sputnik.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Monday, by the end of 2021, the number of people forcibly displaced from their homes had increased up to 90 million due to new waves of violence or persisting hostilities in Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Myanmar, Nigeria, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Over the past three months, the conflict in Ukraine has compelled another 14 million people to flee their homes, including 6 million forced to seek asylum abroad and 8 million displaced internally.

"One hundred million is a stark figure - sobering and alarming in equal measure. It’s a record that should never have been set. This must serve as a wake-up call to resolve and prevent destructive conflicts, end persecution, and address the underlying causes that force innocent people to flee their homes," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a statement.

The overall number of displaced people now exceeds 1 per cent of the global population, the agency noted, adding that this figure is comparable to the population size of Egypt, ranked 14th most populous country in the world. Over half of the forcibly displaced comprise people displaced within their countries, while the number of refugees and asylum seekers totals 46.8 million.

Addressing the rising number of forcibly displaced people requires the compassion of recipient nations, Grandi said, stressing, however, that humanitarian aid is a "palliative," not an ultimate solution to the refugee crisis.

He noted that the only viable solution is bringing peace and stability "so that innocent people are not forced to gamble between acute danger at home or precarious flight and exile." - Bernama