War and Natural Disasters Have Displaced Tens of Millions of People
The Norwegian Refugee Council, a humanitarian aid organization, has announced that in the past year, one person was displaced within their own country every second. Currently, 40 million people worldwide are living as internally displaced persons in their own countries.
The Norwegian Refugee Council on Monday (May 22 / June 1) released a detailed report on the situation of displaced persons around the world, with special focus on the condition of internally displaced persons.
According to the report from this humanitarian organization, in the past year (2016), one person was displaced within their own country every second. The main reasons for this displacement have been war, violence, and natural disasters.
The number of these people in 2016 reached 31 million, and according to this report, it has now reached 40 million.
In this report, war, violence, and conflict were cited as the cause of displacement for approximately 7 million people in 2016.
In Congo alone, 920,000 people, in Syria 824,000 people, and in Iraq 660,000 people were forced to leave their homes due to war and violence and for their survival, becoming internally displaced in other parts of their countries.
The Norwegian Refugee Council’s report also states that natural disasters such as floods, storms, and widespread forest fires have caused approximately 24 million people worldwide to become internally displaced within their own countries.
The United Nations has also recently warned about the concerning situation of displaced persons and refugees.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) announced at the beginning of this year that currently 620,000 Afghans are “war-displaced” in their country. Many of these displaced persons are children.
Source: DW
