More than 100 million people are fleeing the world, more than at any time since World War II.
In Geneva, the UN refugee agency UNHCR spoke of a “dramatic milestone” that had been reached as a result of the Russian war once morest Ukraine and crises in Afghanistan and other countries. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, has warned that the terrible trend will continue if the international community does not find a way to permanently resolve conflicts.
The expulsion from Ukraine is the largest and fastest growing such crisis since the founding of the UNHCR in 1951, the refugee agency reported on Thursday in its world refugee report.
Shocking numbers
At the end of December 2021, 89.3 million people were fleeing war, violence, persecution and human rights violations, eight percent more than a year earlier. The number has been increasing for many years, at the end of 2021 there were significantly more than twice as many people fleeing as ten years before.
Waves of violence or protracted conflicts in countries such as Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Myanmar, Nigeria, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo contributed to this. In addition, more than six million refugees have left Ukraine.
After Turkey, Colombia, Uganda and Pakistan, Germany was the largest host country, with 1.3 million hosts.
“Either the international community comes together to do something regarding this human tragedy, to resolve conflicts and find lasting solutions, or this terrible trend will continue,” warns Filippo Grandi.
According to UNHCR, the report also contains glimmers of hope. In 2021, the number of returned refugees and internally displaced persons had reached the level before the corona pandemic. The number of voluntary returnees increased by 71 percent.