Data released today indicates that "the number of displaced individuals reached a record high last year, totaling 71.1 million globally due to conflicts such as the war in Ukraine, and the repercussions of climate change, such as the floods experienced in Pakistan." The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, based in Geneva, reported that "this figure represents a 20 percent increase since 2021 as an unprecedented number of people sought safety and shelter," noting that "nearly three quarters of the displaced population live in ten countries including Syria, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ukraine, and Sudan due to conflicts that caused major displacement in 2022."
The centre clarified that "the war in Ukraine led to the displacement of nearly 17 million last year," emphasizing that "the conflict caused the displacement of 28.3 million globally, a figure that is three times the annual average of the previous decade." It pointed out that "the largest number of the displaced last year, which reached 32.6 million, was due to disasters including floods, droughts, and landslides."
Jan Egeland, the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, which established the centre in 1998, stated: "Conflicts and disasters converged last year to exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and inequalities among people, triggering a wave of displacement on an unprecedented scale." He added: "Moreover, the war in Ukraine has caused a global food security crisis that has harmed the displaced. These combined circumstances have undermined progress that had been made over years to reduce hunger and malnutrition worldwide."
