The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said there are an estimated 100 million people worldwide who have been forced to flee their homes, a figure understood to be the highest recorded since World War II.
In its Global Trends Report on Thursday, the UN body stated that the displacement of civilians resulting from the war in Ukraine was the largest and fastest-growing refugee crisis since its establishment in 1951.
The high commissioner also listed the crisis in Afghanistan alongside the Russian invasion of Ukraine among multiple simultaneous emergencies currently plaguing the world. He said the number of refugees had increased yearly in the last decade and added that a “terrible end” is inevitable unless the international community takes effective steps to resolve conflicts and implement lasting solutions.
The report released by the UNHCR addressed developments in 2021 but included the latest refugee statistics to highlight the sad consequences of the Ukraine war.
The commission said it counted 89.3 million individuals who have been displaced by war, violence, persecution, and other human rights abuses by the end of 2021, an eight percent increase from the previous year.
