The number of people displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence and human rights violations in the world has increased to a record 82.4 million, according to the Global Trends report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The UN report has called for reversing the global trend towards more flight and displacement triggered by violence and persecution, which has been going on for almost a decade. It said that the newly released figure is four per cent higher than the previous year, when 79.5 million had been recorded at the end of 2019.
The low and middle-income countries that border crisis areas host the vast majority of refugees around the world. Moreover, developing countries hosted 86 per cent of the world’s refugees and Venezuelans displaced abroad. The least developed countries provided asylum to 27 per cent of the total.
There were 20.7 million refugees under the UNHCR mandate, 5.7 million Palestinian refugees, and 3.9 million Venezuelans who fled their homes at the end of 2020. All these figures represent slight increases compared to 2019.
A further 48 million people were displaced within their own country, while there are 4.1 million asylum-seekers. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said behind each of these numbers is a person displaced from their home and a story of flight, uprooting, and suffering. Steps should be taken from all quarters to end the sufferings of refugees.