The
Global Report on Internal Displacement, released Thursday by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, estimates that 71.1 million people were living as refugees in their own countries at the end of 2022, which was 20% higher than the year before, and an all-time high for the number of displaced people across the globe. File photo by Sajjad Ali Qurseshi / UPI |
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May 11 (UPI) -- More than 71 million people worldwide were forced from their homes but remained in their countries as war, natural disasters and other crises led to record-level internal displacement throughout 2022, according to new data.
The Global Report on Internal Displacement, released Thursday by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, estimates that 71.1 million people were living as refugees in their own countries at the end of 2022, which was 20% higher than the year before, and an all-time high for the number of displaced people across the globe.
The total number of evacuees in 2022 surpassed 2021's annual total by more than 60%, the report shows.
Nearly three-quarters of the world's internally displaced people live in just 10 countries, including Syria, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ukraine, Colombia, Ethiopia, Yemen, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan.
Nations in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa accounted for the highest number of displaced people around the world.
More than 32 million displacements were caused by weather-related disasters, while 28.3 million were caused by conflict and violence -- double the tally from the previous year.
The United States ranked sixth in the world for the most people displaced by climate disasters with 543,000.
Those displaced by gang violence and war were counted in 65 countries at the end of 2022, while those displaced by disasters were seen in 88 nations.
In some cases, several crises overlapped and led to many residents being driven out for a second or third time.
Notably, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has transplanted 16.9 million inside the country so far, which was shaping up to become one of the largest diasporas for any country in world history.
About 60% of those displaced by global conflicts could be found in Ukraine as scores of people continue to flee the rapidly shifting frontline, the report said, while calling attention to other global flashpoints, including Colombia, Haiti, Mexico, and Sudan.
The report blamed severe weather and flooding for major population movements in places like Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Brazil, while drought throughout Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya forced 2.1 million to seek safe haven.
The massive population shifts in Nigeria, Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Yemen -- where more than 26 million were displaced -- have put food insecurity at an all-time low as supply chains issues continue to plague those regions in the wake of the global pandemic.
The IDMC serves as the foremost source for data and analysis on internal displacements around the world.
