UNHCR
More than 100 million people displaced by violence
Millions of people have fled Ukraine since the war began. Photo: Francisco Seco/AP/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
A sad record: According to the UN refugee agency, the number of people displaced by violence has exceeded 100 million for the first time.
The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and other deadly conflicts have pushed the number of people displaced by violence worldwide to more than 100 million for the first time on record. This was announced by the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) in Geneva.
«One hundred million is a blatant number – sobering and alarming at the same time. It’s a record that should never have been,” said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. The number is a wake-up call that conflicts must be resolved and prevented.
According to new information from the UNHCR, the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide had risen to 90 million by the end of 2021. The reason for this was, among other things, waves of violence or conflicts in Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Myanmar, Nigeria, Afghanistan and in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In addition, the war in Ukraine this year has displaced 8 million people within the country and more than 6 million people have fled Ukraine.
The number of forcibly displaced persons reportedly includes refugees and asylum-seekers, as well as 53.2 million people who had to leave their homes within the borders of their countries.