The UN announced on Thursday that a startling 120 million people are living under forced displacement as a result of conflict, violence, and persecution. The organization called the steadily rising figure a “terrible indictment on the state of the world”.
The UNHCR, the UN’s refugee agency, reported that the number of individuals forced to escape their homes due to conflict in locations like Gaza, Sudan, and Myanmar has once again broken records for forced displacement worldwide.
Japan’s population is now equal to that of the entire world, the statement noted.
“Conflict remains a very, very big driver of mass displacement,” UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi told reporters.
117.3 million people were displaced at the end of the previous year, according to a UNHCR report.
And by the end of April, there were a projected 120 million individuals living in displacement worldwide, a significant increase in the population.
The UNHCR reported that the number has increased from 110 million a year ago and has been rising for 12 years in a row. Since 2012, it has nearly tripled due to a combination of new and evolving crises and the inability to address persistent ones.
Grandi told AFP that when he started the position eight years ago, he was taken aback by the sheer number of people displaced.
Since then it has “more than doubled”, he said, describing this as “a terrible indictment on the state of the world”.
