“A world is collapsing, countries are falling apart”

Record increase in the number of homeless people in their own countries

The war on Ukraine destroyed the homes of many and displaced large numbers.

Reuters

Amid a world besieged by conflict and natural disasters, the number of people fleeing their homes in search of safe havens elsewhere within their countries reached a record level approaching 60 million at the end of last year, new data shows.

Disasters, including major weather events such as cyclones and floods in Asia, and protracted armed conflicts in countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Ethiopia, were the main drivers and drivers behind new displacements last year, according to a report by the Geneva-based Center for Internal Displacement Monitoring.

"The world is collapsing and too many countries are falling apart," said Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, who established the center in 1998 to document waves of human displacement.

"2021, as our documents indicate, was a dark year, and 2022 proves that it will be worse," he added, noting that the war in Ukraine would raise the numbers to new records this year.

The annual report revealed that 59.1 million people were living in displacement conditions at the end of last year, compared to 55 million in 2020. He added that the countries with the largest number of displaced people are Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Colombia, Afghanistan and Yemen.

The report does not count the numbers of refugees fleeing to other countries, although there is often a correlation between internal trends and movement across borders.

"This is an indictment with irrefutable evidence of the world's failure to prevent and resolve conflicts," Egeland told reporters this week.

He added that he is deeply concerned that the Ukraine crisis will divert aid funds from other sites, explaining that some countries have started dedicating their aid budgets to helping Ukrainian refugees.

He said, "This means that it will reduce .. the money that goes to the rest of the world."

He pointed out that the Ukraine war raised the cost of aid for the displaced, because it caused an increase in food and fuel prices.

59.1

One million people were living in displacement conditions at the end of last year, compared to 55 million in 2020.

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