The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, says more people have been displaced from their homes than ever before.
Recent conflicts in Sudan and Ukraine forced millions of people from their homes and pushed the number of displaced people to 110 million, the most ever.
Other conflicts in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, and Ethiopia added to the total.
The latest number includes refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced people and, what the UNHCR calls, other people in need of international protection. At the end of 2022, the number was just over 108 million, but the conflict in Sudan pushed another 2 million people away from home since April.
The fighting in Ukraine was the main reason for a 19 million-person increase in 2022.
“It’s quite an indictment on the state of our world,” said Filippo Grandi. He is an Italian diplomat and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. He called solutions to the problem “increasingly difficult to even imagine.”
Of the total number of refugees needing protection, he said half of them came from only three countries: Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine.
Many people are seeking safety within their own countries but about 35 million are officially refugees because they are in other countries.
He called the causes of displacement “the usual,” which include fighting, persecution, violence and climate change.
He also called for some countries to think about their position on accepting refugees. He said many countries signed documents offering acceptance and protection in 1951. However, those countries are now “reluctant” to accept them.
He called restrictions on new immigrants and asylum seekers “pushback,” and he criticized those nations for “blaming them for everything that has happened.”
Grandi said most refugees are in low-to-middle income countries in Africa and Asia. He said rich countries in Europe and North America are not accepting as many. Turkey and Iran have received over 3 million each. The UN says there are 5.7 million Ukrainian refugees across Europe and beyond.
Grandi said the U.S. received the most new asylum claims in 2022 – over 730,000. However, it is also the country with the longest delays in its system.
“One of the things that needs to be done is reforming that asylum system so that it becomes more rapid, more efficient,” Grandi said.
Grandi did offer some praise. He said Kenya is working to find answers for the refugees within its borders. He also praised a deal reached recently by European Union leaders to share responsibility for migrants and refugees.
I’m Dan Friedell.
Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on reports by Reuters and the Associated Press.
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Words in This Story
indictment –n. an expression of disapproval
persecution –n. being unfairly treated because of race, religious or political beliefs
reluctant –adj. unwilling to do something
rapid –adj. happening fast