Human Rights: Sad record: 1.5 percent of the world’s population displaced

More people than ever before are fleeing violence, war, conflict and persecution around the world. In May, there were 120 million, almost ten percent more than a year ago, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR in Geneva.

It was the twelfth consecutive increase in numbers. Around 1.5 percent of the entire world population has been displaced from their homes, according to the new World Refugee Report.

A good two thirds of people are fleeing within the borders of their own homeland. The impression that migrants and refugees are mainly flocking to rich countries is wrong, said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. “75 percent of those who are displaced, in their own country or abroad, live in poor or middle-income countries,” said Grandi. For the most part, it is not the rich countries that are affected, although this impression is sometimes created. Most people stay in neighboring countries after fleeing in the hope of being able to return home quickly.

Germany has the most asylum applications after the USA

The USA and Germany were highly rated by people who see no chance of returning soon: The USA recorded by far the most asylum applications, a total of 1.2 million. This was followed by Germany with around 330,000 applications, ahead of Egypt, Spain and Canada.

The figures are only partially comparable from year to year because the data situation is improving in some countries and the data collection methods are sometimes changing. Records refer to the period since 1951, when the UNHCR first recorded refugee numbers.

The biggest displacements in 2023

The power struggle between the army and militias in Sudan and the Israeli war against the terrorist organization Hamas in the Gaza Strip are among the disasters that have plunged millions of people into misery in 2023. There have also been large-scale displacements in Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The numbers in a nutshell

120 million displaced people worldwide, as of May 2024. However, the report’s analyses always refer to the calendar year 2023. As of December 31, 2023, there were 117.3 million displaced people, eight percent more than at the end of 2022. 68.3 million sought refuge in their own country.

This number is 50 percent higher than 5 years ago. Germany is the country with the fourth largest refugee group. The UNHCR puts the number at 2.6 million, behind Iran (3.8 million), Turkey (3.3 million) and Colombia (2.9 million).

Sudan: more than nine million displaced people since April 2023, including 1.9 who fled abroad. Gaza Strip: 1.7 million displaced people, around 75 percent of the population. Myanmar: 2.6 million displaced by the military dictatorship’s fighting against insurgents, twice as many as a year earlier.

Syria: remains the largest refugee crisis in the world with 13.8 million displaced people at home and abroad. Afghanistan: 10.9 million displaced people, of which a good 6.4 million are abroad. This makes Afghans the largest group of refugees abroad. Ukraine: 9.7 million displaced people, of which around 6 million are abroad.

Climate crisis worsens situation

Regions marked by conflict, poverty, hunger and poor governance are also where the climate crisis is most felt, the report says: “At the end of 2023, almost three-quarters of forcibly displaced people lived in countries exposed to high to extremely high climate-related risks.” These included the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

The fight for resources in refuge countries that are severely affected by climate change could trigger further refugee movements, for example where drinking water is already scarce, or where drought is destroying more and more crops and livestock are dying due to a lack of water and food.