One in 67 people all over the world is still displaced by force: UNHCR report Refugee news

At least 123.2 million people, or one in 67 individuals around the world, are still submitted by force, according to a report issued by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (United Nations Refugee Affairs Commission) today.

The number of displaced people increased by seven million people, or 6 percent, compared to the end of 2023. This continues in the direction of 13 years, which witnessed an annual increase in the number of people displaced worldwide.

However, UNHCR estimated that forced displacement decreased in the first four months of this year, to 122.1 million by the end of April 2025.

“We live in a time of severe fluctuations in international relations, as the modern war created a brutal, fragile scene characterized by acute human suffering. We must double our efforts to search for peace and find long -term solutions for refugees and others who were forced to flee their homes.”

Of the total of 123.2 million of the displaced by force, 73.5 million people are displaced inside their countries due to conflict or other crises. This is an increase of 6.3 million compared to 2023. The internal displaced people represent 60 percent of the majority of those who were forced to flee worldwide.

In Gaza, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRWA) estimates that about 90 percent of the population, or more than two million people, have been displaced due to Israel’s ongoing assault.

As of 2024, the number of refugees reached 42.7 million, a decrease of 613,600 from the previous year. Of this number, 31 million under the commission of the commission, 5.9 million Palestinian refugees under UNRWA, and 5.9 million people need international protection.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the low number of refugees in 2024 reflects lower estimates of Afghan and Syrian refugees and updated reports on Ukrainian refugees. However, the number of Sudanese refugees increased by nearly 600,000 to 2.1 million.

The number of asylum seekers – persons looking for protection in another country due to persecution or fear of harm in their homeland – pending a decision of 8.4 million, an increase of 22 percent over the previous year.

This puts the number of people displaced worldwide on one out of every 67 people.

How did the people who are displaced by force change over the years?

In 1951, the United Nations established a refugee conference to protect the rights of refugees in Europe in the aftermath of World War II. In 1967, the agreement was expanded to address displacement around the world.

When the refugee conference was born, there were 2.1 million refugees. By 1980, the number of refugees registered by the United Nations exceeded 10 million for the first time. Wars in Afghanistan and Ethiopia during the 1980s in the number of refugees caused twice 20 million by 1990.

The number of refugees has been somewhat consistent for the next two decades.

However, the invasion of Afghanistan by the United States in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, along with civil wars in South Sudan and Syria, led to the number of refugees exceeding 30 million by the end of 2021.

The war in Ukraine, which began in 2022, led to one of the fastest refugee crises since World War II, forcing 5.7 million people to flee from Ukraine in less than a year. By the end of 2023, six million Ukrainians remained displaced by force.

The number of internal displaced people has doubled in the past ten years, with a sharp slope since 2020. The conflict in Sudan between the Sudanese army and the semi -military rapid support forces has led to the largest displacement crisis in the world, with a total of 14.3 million Sudan remaining at the end of 2024. This was more than 5 million people 12 months ago.

Where did people displace?

In 2024, more than a third of all people who were forced in the black world (14.3 million), Syrians (13.5 million), Afghans (10.3 million) or Ukrainian (8.8 million).

The return of the displaced and the refugees

In 2024, 1.6 million refugees returned to their home country.

“However, many of these refugees have returned to Afghanistan, Syria, southern Sudan, or Ukraine, despite the fragile positions in each of them,” said Matthew Saltmarish, head of the media at the Commission. “It returns to places in conflict or instability, far from idealism and not sustainable.”

In 2024, 8.2 million returned to the area of ​​origin.

The UNHCR estimates that nine out of 10 refugees and IDPS have returned to only eight countries, which included Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Lebanon, Myanmar, South Sudan, Syria and Ukraine.

“The large revenues of the displaced were also registered during the year in many countries that simultaneously witnessed a large new displacement, such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2.4 million), Myanmar (378,000), Syria (514000) or Ukraine (782,000),”.

“Even amid the devastating cuts, we have seen some rays of hope during the past six months,” Grande said. “What can