More than 100 million refugees in the world: Is the situation set to improve for displaced people?
India Today
The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has added more misery to the spiralling global humanitarian crisis. The war has led to nearly 8.4 million people fleeing the Ukrainian border.
The ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has added more misery to the spiralling global humanitarian crisis. Per the latest estimates, the war, which started more than 125 days ago, has led to nearly 8.4 million people fleeing the Ukrainian border.
The scale and magnitude of the crisis are so massive that as per the latest UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) figures, in the just first few months of 2022, nearly 11.8 million people have been forced to escape their homes and seek refuge elsewhere. It’s worth noting that 11.8 million is the maximum number of people displaced in any year in more than a decade.
It has led the global tally of displaced people to cross the staggering 100 million mark. It stands at 101.1 million as of June 9. It implies that one in every 78 people on the Earth has been forced to leave their homes to seek safety and shelter. The spike in the numbers is mainly because of the deteriorating condition in war-torn Ukraine and further displacements in countries like Myanmar and Burkina Faso.
With more than one per cent of the world's population already forcibly displaced and continued conflicts between nations, the number will continue to rise. Consequently, it may lead to dire conditions, especially for displaced people.
As per the latest UNHCR report on Global Trends released last month, 89.3 million people globally were forced to flee their homes at the end of 2021 as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, or events seriously disturbing public order. The number as of June 2022 stands at 101.1 million.
The total number of forcibly displaced people to seek safe shelter encompasses refugees (32.1 million, including 5.8 million refugees from Palestine), asylum seekers (4.5 million), internally displaced people (60.1), and Venezuelans who are displaced abroad (4.4 million) as of June 2022. This figure was 82.38 million at the end of 2020. This means 2021 added nearly 6.9 million additional people to the global tally. The fact that almost 33 million people have been displaced since 2018 can help estimate the pace and rate at which the worldwide crisis has grown.
As per the data, the situation has worsened so much that the figure at the end of 2021 is more than double the number a decade ago. For instance, at the end of 2012, 42.7 million people were forcibly displaced. Similarly, the number of refugees has also nearly doubled and increased from 15.4 million at the end of 2012 to 32.1 million as of June 2022.
