More than 100 million people displaced globally

• 100 million people forced to flee home
• 380,000 children per year born as refugees
• Emergencies in Ukraine, Afghanistan and Ethiopia increase displacement

More than 100 million people are currently displaced by conflict, violence and persecution – the highest level since records began, according to the latest Global Trends Report released by the UN Refugee Agency.

“Either the international community comes together to take action to address this human tragedy, resolve conflicts and find lasting solutions, or this terrible trend will continue,” said Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

“This must serve as a wake-up call to resolve and prevent destructive conflicts, end persecution, and address the underlying causes that force innocent people to flee their homes.”

At the end of 2021, the number of people forced to flee their homes had reached 89.3 million – over double the figure of 10 years ago. The war in Ukraine – now the world’s largest human displacement crisis – has since driven this figure even higher.

Globally, one in 78 people is displaced. If displaced people were a country, it would be 14th most populous country in the world.  

“This must serve as a wake-up call to resolve and prevent destructive conflicts, end persecution, and address the underlying causes that force innocent people to flee their homes.”

Refugees dream of returning home

Violence in northern Ethiopia has forced hundreds of thousands of people like Alemtsehay to flee. Alemtsehay was pregnant when she escaped the fighting and gave birth to her daughter in a camp in South Sudan two months ago. Her daughter is one of the 380,000 children born as refugees each year.

Alemtsehay has started her own business to supplement the food rations she receives in South Sudan, which is facing its worst food crisis in a decade.

“I have a small shop where I sell soap and coffee beans, but it’s not enough to survive,” she says. “All I want is peace so that I can go home.”

Returning home is the preferred solution for most refugees. Last year, nearly 430,000 refugees were able to return home – a 71 per cent increase on 2020. However, this still represents just four per cent of the total number of people requiring resettlement.

Uncertainty for internally displaced families

Nzedha is one of the 53 million people displaced within her own country. She fled her village in Ituri province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, when militia attacked her home in 2019. She is still living in a displacement camp and worries for the future of her children.

“Life is very tough here. In my village, I had a farm with my husband . . . I was able to earn a living. I paid my children’s school fees and was able to give them whatever they needed,” she said.

“I can’t afford to pay fees now. I feel dejected. I don’t know what to do. There’s hunger and we have very little to eat here. I feel sad about my children.”

Read the Global Trends Report

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