According to the ‘Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2020 Report’ released by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) – The number of people fleeing wars, violence, persecution, and human rights violations increased to nearly 82.4 million people in 2020, an increase of 3 million people compared to 79.5 million recorded at the end of 2019.
- Number of people facing Forced Displacement has increased despite COVID-19 related movement restrictions.
- The report states that more than 1% of the world’s population or 1 in 95 people are now forcibly displaced. This compares with 1 in 159 in 2010.
- This is the 9th straight annual increase in the number of people forcibly displaced.
Regions with Maximum Displacement
i.Conflict and impact of Climate Change in places like Mozambique, Ethiopia’s Tigray region and Africa’s broad Sahel area were among the leading sources of new movements of refugees and internally displaced people in 2020.
ii.Around 48 million people were internally displaced in their own countries & 4.1 million people have sought asylum.
iii.Turkey has taken in the most refugees, followed by Colombia & Pakistan.
iv.The 5 countries which hold more than two thirds of people who fled abroad are : Syria (6.7 million), Venezuela (4.0 million), Afghanistan (2.6 million), South Sudan (2.2 million) and Myanmar (1.1 million).
Low Rate of Return
The report states that in 2020, some 3.2 million internally displaced and just 251, 000 refugees returned to their homes, a drop of 40% & 21% compared to 2019.
About United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
High Commissioner – Filippo Grandi
Headquarters – Geneva, Switzerland
