'alarming' number
The number of displaced people in the world exceeded 100 million, according to the United Nations
UNHCR is sounding the alarm.
archival
picture
The Russian war in Ukraine has caused the number of displaced people around the world to rise to more than 100 million, for the first time ever, the United Nations announced yesterday.
"The number of people forced to flee conflict, violence, human rights violations and persecution has now, for the first time ever, surpassed the massive figure of 100 million, driven by the war in Ukraine and other conflicts," UNHCR said in a statement.
“100 million is a stark, alarming, and thought-provoking figure,” said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi.
And it should never have been achieved.”
The Commission considered, in a statement, that this "alarming" figure should shake the world and push it towards ending the conflicts that are forcing record numbers of people to flee their homes.
UNHCR statistics indicate that the situation was serious before the Ukrainian conflict, with the number of displaced people rising to 90 million by the end of 2021, driven by violence in Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Burma, Nigeria, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine prompted millions of people to flee the fighting and seek refuge in less dangerous areas or to other countries.
refugee flow
Since the Second World War, Europe has not experienced such a rapid influx of refugees.
Nearly 6.5 million Ukrainians, mostly women and children, have left the country, while men able to fight remain in Ukraine.
The United Nations estimates that the number of departures could reach 8.3 million by the end of the year.
In Ukraine itself, the number of internally displaced persons is estimated at eight million.
Prior to the Russian invasion, Ukraine had a population of 37 million in the areas under the control of its government.
This figure does not include Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, nor the eastern regions controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
To illustrate the magnitude of the phenomenon of displacement, the UNHCR explained that the number of 100 million constitutes 1% of the world's population, noting that only 13 countries have more than this number.
Grandi praised the international response to those fleeing the war in Ukraine as "extremely positive," adding that "this rush of sympathy is very real, and there is a need for similar mobilization in the face of other crises in the world."
the world is collapsing
However, there is a stark discrepancy between this general mobilization and generosity in collecting aid for Ukraine, and the way refugees are received from other war zones such as Afghanistan and Syria.
Grandi stressed that "humanitarian assistance is only a palliative, not a cure," stressing that "the only way to change the course is to achieve peace and stability, so that innocents will no longer have to choose between the danger of direct conflict or the difficulties of escape and exile."
On Friday, Grandi criticized about 20 countries that continue, in the name of health security, to close their borders to asylum seekers more than two years after the start of the “Covid-19” pandemic, expressing his suspicion that these countries are using the matter as an excuse to keep their borders closed.
A report by two NGOs published on May 19 showed that there were nearly 60 million internally displaced people worldwide last year, many of them due to natural disasters.
The Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland, considered that "the world is collapsing", and the situation "has never been this bad before."
“We are witnessing an unprecedented epidemic of human suffering,” said Egeland, noting that world leaders had “failed the most vulnerable on an unprecedented scale.
Behind these numbers are families without a roof, children deprived of schools, and entire communities facing starvation.”
Egeland pointed out that the aid system is cumbersome and suffers from a lack of funding, and it will not be able to support 100 million people without securing additional resources.
Egeland pointed out that the repercussions of the war on Ukraine, such as the rise in food and fuel prices, exacerbated the already dire situation for the displaced, "and its impact extended to conflict areas, such as the fall of dominoes from Somalia to Yemen."
The number of 100 million constitutes 1% of the world's population, noting that only 13 countries have more than this number.
• UNHCR statistics indicate that the situation was serious before the Ukrainian conflict, as the number of displaced people rose to 90 million by the end of 2021, driven by violence in Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Burma, Nigeria, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news