UN: Number of refugees in the world has doubled in a decade

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has announced in its latest report that the number of refugees and asylum seekers has doubled in the past decade. According to the report, solutions must be found as soon as possible to prevent this trend.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees announced in its latest report on Thursday, June 16, that the number of refugees and asylum seekers worldwide has doubled over the past decade, reaching an unprecedented level.

According to the report, by the end of 2021, about 90 million people in the world were displaced and seeking asylum. This number is unprecedented since the beginning of the relevant statistics. Experts from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees believe that this figure has probably reached 100 million now.

The report states that war, violence and repression are prevalent in many countries, and this situation has intensified again in recent months. Now, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has exacerbated the situation.

Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said he was not optimistic about the war in Ukraine and feared it would become a protracted conflict. "Furthermore, the war in Ukraine has had a negative impact on humanitarian aid to other countries in the world," he added.

Grandi called on donor countries to increase their aid so that at least humanitarian measures can be implemented.

"What we have seen so far is not additional aid, but permanent aid. The situation is such that Ukraine is currently receiving a lot of aid, and other crisis-stricken countries are being deprived more," he said.

Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen, Ethiopia, Venezuela, and South Sudan; according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the list of war-torn and crisis-ridden countries whose citizens need assistance is long.

To this list can also be added countries that host refugees and asylum seekers; countries that are usually neighboring and in many cases do not have much capital and resources to handle them.

According to this report, by the end of 2021, more than 8 million refugees and asylum seekers from other countries around the world were living in Türkiye, Cameroon, Uganda, and Pakistan alone.

The report also states: "The speed and scale of displacement are outstripping the resources available to find solutions for refugees and asylum seekers. The only way to solve the crisis is through international cooperation." According to Filippo Grandi, however, the situation with this cooperation has deteriorated significantly.

He added: "If countries do not cooperate with each other, they will not be able to stop this negative trend. In fact, everyone is a loser. But I am worried because Russia's attack on Ukraine has hit all efforts to cooperate at the political level."

Grandi added that he hopes this trend will change, if not, the number of refugees and asylum seekers in the world will continue to increase in the coming years.

The UNHCR report also shows glimmers of hope. For example, the number of people displaced within their own countries who have been able to return to their homes increased in 2021, reaching levels seen before the start of the pandemic.

Regarding positive phenomena, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Grandi, stated that the war in Ukraine shows how large waves of refugees can be contained if the governments of the world, especially European governments, are willing and cooperate.

Source: DW