The full-scale war in Ukraine, alongside conflict elsewhere around the world, meant more people than ever remained uprooted from their homes last year, heightening the urgency for immediate, collective action to alleviate the causes and impact of displacement, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said today. Further fighting in 2023, especially in Sudan, has now pushed the global total of displaced women, men, and children to more than 110 million.
UNHCRâs annual report, Global Trends in Forced Displacement 2022, found that by the end of 2022, the number of people displaced by war, persecution, violence and human rights abuses stood at a record 108.4 million, up 19.1 million on a year earlier, which was the biggest ever increase. In 2023, the upward trend in global forced displacement showed no sign of slowing as the eruption of conflict in Sudan triggered new outflows, pushing the global total to more than 110 million by June.
âThese figures show us that some people are far too quick to rush to conflict, and way too slow to find solutions. The consequence is devastation, displacement, and anguish for each of the millions of people forcibly uprooted from their homes,â UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said.
Of the global total of 108.4 million at the end of 2022, 35.3 million were refugees, people who crossed an international border to find safety, while a greater share â 58 percent, representing 62.5 million people â were internally displaced people (IDPs) in their home countries due to conflict and violence.
The war in Ukraine was the top driver of displacement in 2022. The number of refugees from Ukraine soared from 27,300 at the end of 2021 to 5.7 million at the end of 2022, representing the fastest outflow of refugees anywhere since World War II. 52 percent of all refugees came from just three countries: Syria (6.5 million), Ukraine (5.7 million), and Afghanistan (5.7 million).
According to the report, estimates for the number of refugees from Afghanistan were sharply higher by the end of 2022 due to revised estimates of Afghans hosted in Iran, many having arrived in previous years. In addition, the report reflects upward revisions by Colombia and Peru of the numbers of Venezuelans, mostly categorized as âother people in need of international protection,â hosted in those countries.
The UNHCR figures also confirmed that, whether measured by economic means or population ratios, it remains the worldâs low- and middle-income countries â not wealthy states â that host most displaced people. The 46 least developed countries account for less than 1.3 percent of global gross domestic product, yet they hosted more than 20 percent of all refugees.
70 percent of refugees and other people in need of international protection lived in countries neighboring their countries of origin.
Turkey remained the largest refugee-hosting country in the world, with 3.6 million refugees at the end of 2022, over 10 percent of all refugees worldwide, followed by Iran with 3.4 million. Colombia was host for 2.5 million refugees, while Germany hosted nearly 2.1 million, 6 percent of all refugees globally. Among the top 5 hosting countries was also Pakistan, with 1.7 million seeking refuge there.
Relative to their national populations, the island of Aruba (1 in 6) and Lebanon (1 in 7) hosted the largest number of refugees.
"People around the world continue to show extraordinary hospitality for refugees as they extend protection and help to those in need," Grandi added, "but much more international support and more equitable responsibility sharing is required, especially with those countries that are hosting most of the worldâs displaced."
Funding for the numerous displacement situations and to support hosting countries lagged behind needs last year, remaining sluggish in 2023 as requirements increase.
"Above all, much more must be done to end conflict and remove obstacles so that refugees have the viable option to return home voluntarily, safely and with dignity," he said.
While the total figure of displaced continued to grow, the report also showed that those forced to flee are not condemned to exile, rather they can and do go home, voluntarily and safely.
In 2022, over 339,000 refugees returned to 38 countries, and though lower than the previous year there were significant voluntary returns to South Sudan, Syria, Cameroon and CĂŽte dâIvoire. Meantime, 5.7 million internally displaced people returned in 2022, notably within Ethiopia, Myanmar, Syria, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
According to the UN Refugee Agency, at the end of 2022, an estimated 4.4 million people worldwide were stateless or of undetermined nationality, 2 percent more than at the end of 2021.
The UNHCR report does not include people that are forced to flee due to natural disasters or the climate crisis. According to the Global Report on Internal Displacement 2023 by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) the number of total IDPs around the world reached 71.1 million at the end of 2022. Of those, 62.5 million were forced to flee due to conflict and violence and 8.7 million due to natural disasters.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is a United Nations agency mandated to assist and protect refugees, displaced persons and stateless people. The organization is known by its short name, UN Refugee Agency. UNHCR was established by the United Nations General Assembly on December 14, 1950, to provide assistance to refugees from World War II. On January 1, 1951, the UNHCR began its work. Each year, the UN Refugee Agency helps millions of refugees and displaced persons worldwide. UNHCR is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has offices in 134 countries.
Further information
Full text: Global Trends in Forced Displacement 2022, UNHCR Report, released June 14, 2023
https://www.unhcr.org/global-trends-report-2022