ammonnews.net

Ammon News - The number of people forcibly displaced worldwide reached 120 million in 2023, rising sharply for the 12th consecutive year, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said Thursday.

Underlining that the new figure represents "historic new levels," the UNHCR said in a report that it reflects both new and mutating conflicts and a "failure to resolve longstanding" crises.

"The figure would make the global displaced population equivalent to the 12th largest country in the world, around the size of Japan," it said

The agency pointed to the conflict in Sudan as "a key factor driving the figures higher, as since April 2023, more than 7.1 million new displacements were recorded in the country, with another 1.9 million outside.”

At the end of 2023, a total of 10.8 million Sudanese were uprooted, it added.

Additionally, the report said that millions were internally displaced last year by vicious fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Myanmar.

Citing estimates from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), it said that up to 1.7 million people 75% of the population had been displaced in the Gaza Strip by "catastrophic violence” with some refugees “having fled multiple times."

It added that Syria remains "the world’s largest displacement crisis," with 13.8 million forcibly displaced in and outside the country.

"Behind these stark and rising numbers lie countless human tragedies. That suffering must galvanize the international community to act urgently to tackle the root causes of forced displacement," Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, said in a press release.

"It is high time for warring parties to respect the basic laws of war and international law," Grandi said, emphasizing that displacement figures "will keep rising, bringing fresh misery and costly humanitarian responses" without better cooperation and concerted efforts to address conflict, human rights violations and the climate crisis.

Anadolu Agency