This Sunday is World Refugee Day. A day set up by the UN and honoring the millions of people forced to flee their country of origin to escape conflict or persecution. According to the UNHCR’s annual report, released by the UN refugee agency on Friday, the number of internally displaced persons increased by 4% last year to 82.4 million, a figure twice as high as ten years ago.
The coronavirus pandemic has not had a significant impact on the figures since 2020, representing the ninth year of a continuous increase in forced relocations around the world.
All the factors that drive people to flee continued at the same rate last year, war, persecution and other forms of discrimination. What has worsened and due to the coronavirus is the living conditions of the refugees.
In Africa, one of the most striking examples is Uganda, the country on the continent that hosts the largest number of them. They face growing food insecurity and are forced to reduce the amount and frequency of their meals.
Other lessons learned from the UNHCR report include the increase in internally displaced persons, particularly in the central Sahel, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. Countries where populations are fleeing the terrorist threat.
In the Sahel, especially the central Sahel, last year we saw population movements, mainly towards the interior of their own country. This is one of the situations that worries us the most in the world, also because of the speed of the journey. It is the region in the world where the number of displaced persons is currently increasing the fastest.
Céline Schmitt, UNHCR Spokeswoman for France
Another major concern, according to the UNHCR, is the Central African Republic. The violence in 2020 led to significant movements within the country but also to nearby DRCs. The refugees are in remote areas in the northern part of the country, areas that are difficult for humanitarian teams to access.
In CAR, people have been forced to flee after further violence in their own country but also to neighboring countries, mainly the Democratic Republic of Congo. So there are also new population movements and a need for humanitarian access …
Céline Schmitt, UNHCR Spokeswoman for France
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