An unprecedented 79.5 million people were forced to flee their homes last year, according to a new report released by the UN Refugee Agency ahead of World Refugee Day.
The number of refugees worldwide has almost doubled since 2010, when there were 41.1 million, and they now make up more than one per cent of the world’s population. Millions are displaced each year as a result of persecution, violence, conflict and human rights violations.
An estimated 30-34 million (40 per cent) of the 79.5 million people forcibly displaced in 2019 were children below the age of 18.
The number of refugees has doubled from around 10 million at the start of the decade to 20.4 million at the end of 2019. At least 100 million people have been forced to flee their homes in the last 10 years, but only a fraction (3.9 million) have been able to return to their place of origin.
The report highlights several major crises that have forced people from their homes: from the war in Syria, which left 6.6 million people displaced at the end of 2019, to the conflict in Ukraine and violence in sub-Saharan Africa.
The ongoing socio-economic and political crisis in Venezuela is also a key driver for displacement: the Americas have seen a fourfold increase in the number of people displaced across borders during the last decade, primarily due to the exodus from Venezuela.
Daniela, 29, pictured with her 10-month-old baby, arrived at the Ecuador-Peru border with her husband and two children on June 13 after fleeing Venezuela.
"We left Venezuela five days ago by bus," she said. "My husband is checking now how to get the entry stamp on our passports. I wanted to cross the border before June 15, when the humanitarian visa will get mandatory, we don't really know what will happen after that."
"It is impossible to remain in Venezuela, there is no medicine, little food, and everything is so expensive. My parents are still in Venezuela, they did not want to leave their house without anyone inside."
Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said: “We are witnessing a changed reality in that forced displacement nowadays is not only vastly more widespread but is simply no longer a short-term and temporary phenomenon."
The report also found that just five countries account for two-thirds of the world’s refugees: Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan and Myanmar. Turkey hosted the largest number of refugees worldwide in 2019, with 3.6 million people, mainly from Syria. Colombia was second with 1.8 million followed by Pakistan, Uganda and Germany.
“We need a fundamentally new and more accepting attitude towards all who flee, coupled with a much more determined drive to unlock conflicts that go on for years and that are at the root of such immense suffering,” said Mr Grandi.
According to the report, the number of displaced people remained relatively stable between the mid-1990s and 2010 because while people were displaced many were repatriated, built permanent homes in their host communities or resettled else.
The last decade, however, brought a major shift, with more people seeking refuge but having fewer options for rebuilding their lives. As wars and conflicts have dragged on fewer refugees and internally displaced people were able to return home. In addition, countries accepted a limited number of refugees for resettlement and host countries struggled to integrate displaced populations.
Climate change and natural disasters have added to the threats that force people to flee. And Covid-19 may present an unprecedented and unique threat to refugees, the report warns.
For instance, the number of asylum applications registered in the European Union in March 2020 dropped by 43 per cent compared to February, as asylum systems slowed or came to a halt with countries closing borders. In other parts of the world, refugee registration also dropped “significantly”, despite efforts by some countries to resort to remote registration and documentation.
Matthew Saltmarsh, a UNHCR spokesman, told The Telegraph: “The Covid-19 crisis has brought life to a standstill for many people across the globe. But wars and persecution have not stopped, and life-saving aid remains essential.
“As well as being a health crisis, Covid-19 also represents a protection and humanitarian crisis for the forcibly displaced; it’s a global emergency on top of existing emergencies like the Venezuela situation, Bangladesh, the Syria situation, Libya, Yemen, Lake Chad and the Sahel, to name a few.
“A longer-term risk posed by Covid-19 is that the adoption of emergency laws and policies may become entrenched. Also, many refugees and other displaced people are reliant on work, often in the informal economy, and have limited social protections. The shock on their livelihoods might be acute and may well endure.”
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