Worldwide refugee numbers reach record levels
People wait for food to be distributed in a Greek refugee camp
Credit: pa/NurPhoto/Nicolas Economou
Never before have so many people been fleeing persecution, violence and war as they are now. The aid organization UNHCR puts the number of refugees worldwide at around 110 million. Very few of them therefore strive for rich countries.
uKraine, Afghanistan, Sudan: The number of displaced persons and refugees worldwide has risen to a record. Around 110 million people are currently fleeing, two thirds of them in their home countries, as the UN refugee agency UNHCR reported in Geneva on Wednesday. The organization demands more efforts to combat the causes of flight and to support refugees. In June 2022, around 100 million people were fleeing.
The numbers are devastating, said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. “It’s an indictment of the state of our world,” he said. There are more and more crises, but hardly any solutions. For 5.7 million internally displaced persons, the flight ended last year, but only 340,000 refugees returned to their homeland from abroad.
Migration and flight should not be lumped together, said Grandi. If richer countries offered more legal avenues of immigration for people seeking work in countries other than their homeland, fewer migrants would apply for asylum, he said. Asylum and similar protection is reserved for people fleeing war, conflict, persecution and violence. According to the UN Refugee Convention, all countries are obliged to accept them.
In Germany, almost 50,000 people were recently rejected
Because there are no legal migration routes, the asylum systems are overburdened, said Grandi. However, the authorities do not recognize the reasons given for many asylum seekers to flee. Those in need of protection fell into disrepute, said Grandi. In Germany in 2022, almost 230,000 asylum decisions were rejected by almost 50,000 people. Around 50,000 other cases were dealt with – for example because people were registered in other countries or withdrew applications.
Grandi expressed fears that the current crisis in Sudan could spread. Hundreds of thousands of refugees have found shelter in neighboring countries. But the east of the country is known to be the territory of people smugglers. If law and order is not restored in Sudan soon, these smugglers could put Sudanese on escape routes “to Libya and beyond,” Grandi said. Many refugee boats leave for Europe from the Mediterranean state of Libya. In Sudan there has been a power struggle between troops of the de facto president and his previous deputy since mid-April. According to the UN, almost 1.9 million people have fled since the violence began.
The annual Global Trends report released by UNHCR on Wednesday looks at the refugee situation over the past year. According to UNHCR, the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine in 2022 triggered the fastest movement of refugees since World War II: According to the report, 5.7 million people had been displaced within Ukraine’s borders or fled abroad by the end of 2022. At the end of 2022, a total of 108.4 million people were fleeing persecution, war, violence, human rights violations and the consequences of climate change, 19.1 million more than a year earlier.
A good third of the displaced persons fled abroad. Of these, two-thirds were in low- and middle-income countries. They usually stay in countries neighboring their homeland in the hope of returning home soon. It is a myth that the refugees are mainly going to rich countries in Europe or North America, said Grandi. Turkey was hosting the most refugees at the end of 2022, followed by Iran, where mostly Afghans were staying, Colombia and Germany.
Grandi praised the planned reform of the EU asylum system. In the future, the EU wants to hold asylum seekers who arrive from a country that is considered relatively safe in a reception facility under conditions similar to detention after crossing the border. After a quick examination of the applications, those that are rejected should be sent back immediately. Not everything is perfect, but at least the EU has agreed on something, said Grandi. He added: “We clearly believe that asylum seekers should not be put in prison. Applying for asylum is not a crime.”