UNITED NATIONS
\nAfghans continue to make up the largest population of refugees worldwide, with the majority seeking refuge in Iran and Pakistan, maintaining a trend observed in previous years, according to a UNHCR report released on Thursday.
\nThe UN refugee agency\u2019s 2024 Global Trends Report includes estimates of internally displaced persons, pointing out that the years 2023 and 2024 saw historically high levels of forced displacement worldwide.
\nThe report also features an assessment by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), which estimates that about 75 per cent of the population in the Gaza Strip \u2014 approximately 1.7 million people \u2014 have been displaced.
\nSyria, however, holds the record for the highest number of people forcibly displaced, with 13.8 million displaced both within and outside its borders.
\n\u201cBehind these stark and rising numbers lie countless human tragedies.
\nThat suffering must galvanise the international community to act urgently to tackle the root causes of forced displacement,\u201d said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, while commenting on the report.
\nAfghans constitute one in six of all refugees under UNHCR\u2019s mandate. Over the past year, more than 6.4 million Afghans were hosted in 108 countries, marking an increase of 741,400, or 13 per cent, from the previous year.
\nThis surge is primarily due to the rise in the number of Afghans in refugee-like situations in Iran (+327,300) and Pakistan (+189,800).
\nMajor host countries
\nNearly three in four refugees (73 per cent) originate from just five countries, and 87 per cent come from only 10 countries, maintaining consistency with the previous year.
\nThe largest refugee-hosting countries include Iran with 3.8 million, Turkiye with 3.3 million, Colombia with 2.9 million, Germany with 2.6 million, and Pakistan with 2 million.
\nMost refugees in Iran and Pakistan are Afghans, and nearly all refugees in Turkiye are Syrians.
\nAfghan refugees
\nGlobally, nearly 10.9 million Afghans remained displaced, with most staying within their country or in neighbouring countries. In 2023, the number of Afghan refugees increased by 741,400, totalling 6.4 million, mainly due to new population estimates from Iran and Pakistan.
\n\u201cOpportunities for sustainable return are limited, as almost half of Afghanistan\u2019s population of over 40 million faces acute food insecurity, and millions remain displaced within the country,\u201d the report adds.
\nHumanitarian crisis in Gaza
\nThe report notes that the conflict in the Gaza Strip has had a devastating impact on the Palestinian civilian population. The humanitarian situation is extremely dire, with all 2.2 million inhabitants facing acute food insecurity and an imminent threat of famine.
\nUNRWA estimates that between October and December 2023, up to 1.7 million people (over 75 percent of the population) have been displaced within the Gaza Strip, with many forced to flee multiple times.
\nBy the end of 2023, there were 6 million Palestinian refugees under UNRWA\u2019s mandate, with 1.6 million in the Gaza Strip. Two-thirds of these refugees have become internally displaced in 2023, compounding their existing vulnerabilities.<\/p>\n
Displacement in Myanmar
\nEscalating violence following the military takeover in Myanmar in February 2021 has displaced more than 1.3 million people within the country in 2023, bringing the total number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) to over 2.6 million by the end of the year. Most of them are Rohingya Muslims.
\nA major contributor to the alarming numbers in the report is the conflict between rival militaries in Sudan, which resulted in 10.8 million people being uprooted by the end of 2023.
\nAdditionally, millions were internally displaced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Myanmar last year. The 2024 Global Trends Report by UNHCR paints a grim picture of the state of global displacement, highlighting significant challenges and the urgent need for international cooperation to address the root causes of forced displacement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS Afghans continue to make up the largest population of refugees worldwide, with the majority seeking refuge in Iran and Pakistan, maintaining a trend observed in previous years, according to a UNHCR report released on Thursday. The UN refugee agency\u2019s 2024 Global Trends Report includes estimates of internally displaced persons, pointing out that the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413063,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-413047","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n