Accra-Ghana, June 21, GNA – A record figure of 108.4 million people were displaced by war, persecution, violence and human rights abuses by the end of 2022, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) flagship Annual Report, Global Trends in Forced Displacement 2022, has revealed.
The figure was up by 19.1 million a year earlier, which was the biggest ever increase.
A statement from UNHCR said the increase last year was driven by the war in Ukraine and revised estimates for Afghan refugees and that further fighting, especially in Sudan, had now pushed global total to 110 million.
It said the full-scale war in Ukraine, alongside conflict elsewhere and climate-driven upheaval meant more people than ever remained uprooted from their homes last year, heightening the urgency for immediate, collective action to alleviate the causes and impact of displacement.
The statement said the upward trajectory in global forced displacement showed no sign of slowing in 2023 as the eruption of conflict in Sudan triggered new outflows, pushing the global total to an estimated 110 million by May 2023.
“These figures show us that some people are far too quick to rush to conflict, and way too slow to find solutions. The consequence is devastation, displacement, and anguish for each of the millions of people forcibly uprooted from their homes,” Mr Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said.
It said the global total, 35.3 million, were refugees, people who crossed an international border to find safety, while a greater share – 58 per cent, representing 62.5 million people, were displaced in their home countries due to conflict and violence.
The statement said the war in Ukraine was the top driver of displacement in 2022 and that the number of refugees from Ukraine soared from 27,300 at the end of 2021 to 5.7 million at the end of 2022 – representing the fastest outflow of refugees anywhere since World War II.
It said estimates for the number of refugees from Afghanistan were sharply higher by the end of 2022 due to revised estimates of Afghans hosted in Iran, many having arrived in previous years.
The statement said similarly, the report reflected upward revisions by Colombia and Peru of the numbers of Venezuelans, mostly categorised as “other people in need of international protection,” hosted in those countries.
It said the figures also confirmed that, whether measured by economic means or population ratios, it remained the world’s low- and middle-income countries – not wealthy states – that hosted most displaced people.
The statement said the 46 least developed countries accounted for less than 1.3 per cent of global gross domestic product, yet they hosted more than 20 per cent of all refugees.
“People around the world continue to show extraordinary hospitality for refugees as they extend protection and help to those in need, but much more international support and more equitable responsibility sharing is required, especially with those countries that are hosting most of the world’s displaced.
“Above all, much more must be done to end conflict and remove obstacles so that refugees have the viable option to return home voluntarily, safely and with dignity,” Grandi added.
The statement said while the total figure of displaced continued to grow, the Global Trends report also showed that those forced to flee were not condemned to exile and that they could go home, voluntarily and safely.
It said in 2022, over 339,000 refugees returned to 38 countries, and though it was lower than the previous year, there were significant voluntary returns to South Sudan, Syria, Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire.
Meantime, 5.7 million internally displaced people returned in 2022, notably within Ethiopia, Myanmar, Syria, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The statement said at the end of 2022, an estimated 4.4 million people worldwide were stateless or of undetermined nationality, two per cent more than at the end of 2021.
The Global Trends report was launched six months ahead of the second Global Refugee Forum, a major gathering in Geneva bringing together a range of actors to find new solutions for and embed solidarity with people forced to flee and their hosts.
