One in 67 people worldwide remains forcibly displaced: UNHCR report | Refugees News

At least 123.2 million people, or one in 67 people worldwide, remain in force, according to a report published by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (Hcr) Today.

The number of displaced people has increased by seven million people, or 6%, compared to the end of 2023. This continues a 13 -year trend which has increased in annual shift in the number of people in the world.

However, the UNHCR estimated that the forced trip had dropped in the first four months of this year, at 122.1 million by the end of April 2025.

“We live in a period of intense volatility in international relations, modern war creating a fragile and tearing landscape marked by acute human suffering. We have to redouble our efforts to seek peace and find lasting solutions for refugees and other forced to flee their homes, ”said the High Commissioner of Stepippo Grandppo.

Of the 123.2 million total forcibly moved, 73.5 million are moved internally in their own country due to conflicts or other crises. This is an increase of 6.3 million compared to 2023. Internal people displaced (PDI) represent 60% of the majority of those who have been forced to flee worldwide.

In Gaza, the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) estimates that around 90% of the population, more than two million people, was moved by the continuous aggression of Israel.

In 2024, the number of refugees amounted to 42.7 million, a decrease of 613,600 compared to the previous year. Of this number, 31 million are under UNHCR’s mandate, 5.9 million are Palestinian refugees under UNRWA’s mandate, and 5.9 million people need international protection.

According to the UNHCR, the lower number of refugees in 2024 reflects lower estimates of Afghan and Syrian refugees and updated reports on Ukrainian refugees. However, the number of Sudanese refugees has increased by almost 600,000 to 2.1 million.

The number of asylum seekers – people looking for protection in another country due to persecution or fear of prejudice in their country of origin – pending a decision amounted to 8.4 million, an increase of 22% compared to the previous year.

This puts the number of people in the world to one in 67.

How have people figures forcibly moved over the years?

In 1951, the UN established the convention of refugees aimed at protecting the rights of refugees in Europe in the aftermath of the Second World War. In 1967, the agreement was extended to cope with the displacement in the rest of the world.

At the birth of the refugee convention, there were 2.1 million refugees. In 1980, the number of refugees recorded by the UN exceeded 10 million for the first time. The wars in Afghanistan and Ethiopia in the 1980s have doubled the number of refugees to 20 million by 1990.

The number of refugees remained quite coherent in the following two decades.

However, Afghanistan’s invasion by the United States in 2001 and that of Iraq in 2003, as well as civil wars in South Sudan and Syria, led to a number of refugees greater than 30 million by the end of 2021.

The war in Ukraine, which started in 2022, led to one of the fastest growth refugee crises since the Second World War, with 5.7 million people forced to flee Ukraine in less than a year. At the end of 2023, six million Ukrainians were forcibly moved.

The number of PDIs has doubled in the past 10 years, with a steep slope since 2020. The conflict in Sudan between the Sudanese army and the rapid support forces of support triggered the largest crisis of travel in the world, with a total of 14.3 million people supported among Sudanese at the end of 2024. It was 3.5 million people over 12 earlier.

Where are people from?

In 2024, more than a third of all people in force worldwide were Sudanese (14.3 million), Syrians (13.5 million), Afghans (10.3 million) or Ukrainian (8.8 million).

Yield of PDIs and refugees

In 2024, 1.6 million refugees returned to their country of origin.

“However, many of these refugees have returned to Afghanistan, Syria, South Sudan or Ukraine, despite the fragile situations of each,” said Matthew Saltmarsh, head of the UNHCR media. “Returns in places in conflict or instability are far from ideal and often unbearable.”

In 2024, 8.2 million PDIs returned to their original area.

The UNHCR estimates that nine out of 10 and PDI refugees have returned to only eight countries, notably Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Lebanon, Myanmar, South Sudan, Syria and Ukraine.

“The major PDI yields during the year have also been recorded in several countries that have simultaneously saw new significant trips, such as the DRC (2.4 million), Myanmar (378,000), Syria (514,000) or Ukraine (782,000),” said Saltmarsh.

“Even among the devastating cuts, we have seen some rays of hope in the past six months,” said big. “Nearly two million Syrians were able to return home after more than a uprooted decade. The country remains fragile and people need our help to rebuild their lives again. ”