Correct Answer : 103 million
The number of people forcibly displaced from their homes due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order globally surged to 103 million in the first half of 2022, meaning that one in 77 people on Earth is forcibly displaced, the UNHCR said in Geneva.
This is an increase of 13.6 million, or 15 per cent, compared to the end of 2021, more than the entire population of Belgium, Burundi or Cuba, according to the latest report from UNHCR released on Friday(28th Oct 2022).
What The Report Pointed :
According to the report, the total number of refugees and people in need of international protection worldwide rose by 24 per cent from 25.7 million at the end of 2021 to 32 million by mid-2022.
At the end of June this year, more than half (56 per cent) of all refugees were Syrian, Venezuelan or Ukrainian. In mid-2022, the report showed, Turkey hosted 3.7 million refugees, the largest refugee population worldwide. Colombia was second with 2.5 million and Germany third with 2.2 million refugees, followed by Pakistan and Uganda (1.5 million each).
The UNHCR report also showed that the number of asylum-seekers waiting for a decision had climbed to 4.9 million by mid-2022 from 4.6 million at the end of 2021. In the first half of this year, more than 9.6 million new displacements due to conflict and violence were reported. The vast majority were in Ukraine, which accounted for 74 per cent of all new internal displacements.
Most Vulnerable Countries :
During the same period, significant displacements of people were also reported in the Tigray region of Ethiopia, as well as in Myanmar, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Mozambique and Congo. In Afghanistan, the events leading up to the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul in August 2021 resulted in displacement within the country as well as into neighbouring countries. The number of people displaced internally rose for the 15th straight year, even as more than 790,000 Afghans returned during the year. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen saw increases of between 100,000 and 500,000 people displaced internally in 2021.
About UNHCR :
* The UNHCR, also known as the UN Refugee Agency, is a UN programme mandated to protect and support refugees at the request of a government or the UN itself and assists in their voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement to a third country.
* Its headquarters is located in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is a member of the United Nations Development Group.
* The UNHCR has won two Nobel Peace Prizes (in 1954 and again in 1981).
* The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, provide the mandate to UNHCR..
Source : Business Standard
