Close to 69 million people were forced to flee their homes last year as a result of war, violence and other forms of persecution, according to the annual United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, Global Trends report released on Tuesday.
The number of displaced persons hit a record high – up from 65.6 million in 2016 – according to the report.
About two-thirds of all refugees worldwide came from five countries: Syria (6.3 million), Afghanistan (2.6 million), South Sudan (2.4 million), Myanmar (1.2 million) and Somalia (986,400), the report further revealed.
It noted that the Syrian war had once again played a role in driving up the figures across the globe.
But it also noted that substantial growth had come from new displacement in other developing countries – such as in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan and Myanmar.
To illustrate the large number of people on the move, the UNHCR said the latest trends suggested that on average last year, a person became displaced every two seconds.
“One in every 110 people on the planet is a refugee, is internally displaced or is seeking asylum,” the report stated.
Speaking on the global refugee crisis, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, said the world had reached a critical turning point, indicating that a global deal on refugees was critical.
“We are at a watershed, where success in managing forced displacement globally requires a new and far more comprehensive approach so that countries and communities aren’t left dealing with this alone,” he said in a statement, pointing out though that all hope was not lost as he added, “but there is reason for some hope.”
He added: “Fourteen countries are already pioneering a new blueprint for responding to refugee situations and in a matter of months a new Global Compact on Refugees will be ready for adoption by the United Nations General Assembly.”
Mr. Grand said further, “Today, on the eve of World Refugee Day, my message to member states is please support this. No one becomes a refugee by choice; but the rest of us can have a choice about how we help.”
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The yearly report, released ahead of World Refugee Day today, provided several key insights into the realities of forced displacement.
While it looked as though many of the world’s displaced were trying to cross the Mediterranean sea into Europe, the report said those movements actually decreased last year compared to 2016.
According to the UNHCR the majority of displaced persons remained closer to home, with four out of five refugees remaining in countries next door to their own.
“Only a relatively smaller amount of people ventured further afield to seek protection from persecution,” the organisation added.
Meanwhile, for the fourth year in a row, Turkey was adjudged the world’s top refugee-hosting country, receiving 3.5 million refugees inside its borders.
Pakistan and Uganda followed as other main countries of asylum with 1.4 million refugees respectively.
With 331,700 requests, the United States received the most new asylum claims, followed by Germany, Italy and Turkey.
According to the report, 138,700 unaccompanied and separated child refugees and asylum seekers were reported in 2017 by 63 UNHCR operations.
June 20 every year is marked as World Refugee Day, to raise awareness of the situation of refugees throughout the world.
The day was set aside by a United Nations Resolution in December 2000.
