UNITED NATIONS: At least one hundred million people — up from some 90 million in 2021 — were forced to leave their homes in 2022, says a UN end-of-the-year report with a warning that this “record should never have been set”.

Outbreaks of violence, or protracted conflicts, were key migration factors in many parts of the world, including Ukraine, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Syria, and Myanmar, the report adds.

The statistics do not include internal displacements caused by natural disasters. At least 30 million people were displaced in Pakistan alone when unprecedented rains led to a flood of biblical proportions in the summer of 2022. People who lose their homes in these disasters are not considered “refugees” and thus are not mentioned in such reports.

The report quoted UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi as reminding the international community that “one hundred million is a stark figure — sobering and alarming in equal measure. It’s a record that should never have been set.”

Russian invasion of Ukraine forced more than 7.8m Ukrainians to seek refuge across Europe

Mr Grandi said that this dismal figure “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”.

The report points out that thousands of desperate migrants looked to Europe as a preferred destination, putting their lives in the hands of human traffickers, and setting off on perilous journeys across the Mediterranean. “All too often these journeys ended in tragedy,” the report warns.

According to an earlier UN report, over 3,000 people died or went missing while attempting to cross the Mediterranean and the Atlantic in 2021. Many of them were from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

An international charity group — SOS Children Villages — warned in a recent report that Children account for more than half of these refugees and they “face incredible risks and dangers including disease, malnutrition, violence, labor exploitation and trafficking”. It points out, “While the arrival of refugees and asylum seekers in Europe and the United States has dominated the headlines and sparked heated political discussion, less developed regions host more than 85 per cent of the world’s displaced people.”

The UN report also identified the conflict zones that contributed to this unprecedented increase in forced migrations, such as Yemen, Syria, Myanmar and Ukraine.

In Yemen, a war between a Saudi-led coalition and Houthi rebels precipitated a humanitarian catastrophe and has forced more than 4.3 million people to leave their homes. Nearly five million children born in Syria have never known the country at peace. More than 80,000 Syrians call the huge Za’atari camp, in Jordan, home. More than five years ago, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled their homes in Myanmar after a military campaign of persecution. Almost a million live in the vast Cox’s Bazar camp across the border in neighbouring Bangladesh.

In Ethiopia, millions remain displaced due to the armed conflict in the Tigray region, which began on Nov 3, 2020.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 forced more than 7.8m Ukrainians to seek refuge across Europe.

Mr Grandi praised European countries for their willingness to take in Ukrainians, but also pointed to “the ugly reality, that often Black and Brown people from … wars and conflicts around the world — have not received the same treatment as Ukrainian refugees”.

The UN report, however, identified at least one ray of hope in this gloomy situation: governments around the world appear willing to help. In 2022, they pledged some $1.13 billion, a record amount, to provide a lifeline to people displaced by war, violence, and human rights violations. “As a result of conflict, the climate emergency, and other crises, displaced people around the world face unprecedented needs,” said Mr Grandi. “Fortunately, generous donors continue to support them during these dire days, creating hope for a brighter future.”

Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2022