Over 50 million refugees worldwide
June 21 Daily
telegraph
The number of refugees and displaced people worldwide has hit a high
not seen since World War II, the United Nations’ refugee agency has
revealed. Over 50 million people were forced from their homes by the end
of 2013, a rise of six million in just one year.
Conflicts in Syria, South Sudan and the Central African Republic have
driven up the number, but the figure is expected to rise even further as
hundreds of thousands of people flee from their homes in Iraq.
Marking World Refugee Day, the UNHCR said that there are now 51.2
million refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced people
worldwide.
If refugees made up a country, it would be the 26th largest in the
world.“We are seeing here the immense costs of not ending wars, of
failing to resolve or prevent conflict,” said UN High Commissioner for
Refugees António Guterres. “Peace is today dangerously in deficit.
Humanitarians can help as a palliative, but political solutions are
vitally needed.
Without this, the alarming levels of conflict and the mass suffering
that is reflected in these figures will continue.” There are 16.7
million refugees, 1.2 million asylum seekers and 33.3 million
“internally displaced persons” – people who had to flee their homes, but
remain within a country.
The rocketing figure has increased pressure on UNHCR and charities’
attempts to help refugees with food, heathcare and education. During
2013, conflict and persecution forced an average of 32,200 people per
day to flee their homes.
This compares to 23,400 in 2012 and 14,200 in 2011.In a new report
into the refugee crisis, UNHCR also highlighted the problems faced by
“host countries”, some of whom are struggling to deal with the influx.
The Syrian conflict has also created a situation where refugees first
escaped to Syrian and are now being forced to flee again.
Within just five years, Syria has moved from being the world’s second
largest refugee-hosting country to being its second largest
refugee-producing country.As a result of the Syrian conflict,
neighbouring countries like Jordan, Turkey and the Lebanon are facing
internal issues over how to deal with the flood of refugees.
Jordan has been receiving up to a thousand refugees a day, with
hundreds of thousands of refugees now living in the north of the
country. Zaatari refugee camp, close to the Syrian border, has around
140,000 inhabitants, making it the fourth largest city in Jordan.
Jordan has been trying to slow the flood of refugees across its
border, but this week the Syrian army dropped barrel bombs highly
destructive improvised explosives, use of which has been condemned by
Western powers as a war crime on a refugee camp camp close to the
Jordanian border. At least 20 people mainly women and children were
killed in the attack.
The new crisis in Iraq is also creating serious pressure. On
Wednesday, The United Nations children’s agency UNICEF on Wednesday
upgraded Iraq’s latest crisis to a level 3 humanitarian disaster its
most severe designation as UN officials said they were scrambling to
provide basic services while preparing to cope with an estimated 1.5
million displaced people. |