These young girls and their families were displaced by violence to the Tajikan IDP site, near Kandahar City. Most people taking refuge here fled violence in Zabul and some have been displaced for more than six years. They are relieved to be safe, but urgent needs include shelter, farming supplies, water, sanitation and hygiene. One woman said: “Where we came from, we had beautiful green gardens, we had a good life until the conflict." Another said: “You can find malnourished children in every second and third home." This photo was taken November 2019. OCHA/Charlotte Cans
Forced Displacement is at Record Levels, COVID-19 Hampers Durable Solutions 2022
The number of people forcibly displaced worldwide is higher than ever. By the end of 2020, 82.4 million people were forcibly displaced, including 48 million IDPs1 and 26.4 million refugees,2 because of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, or events seriously disturbing public order. More than 1 per cent of the world’s population is now displaced, about 42 per cent of whom are children.3
This represents a worrying trend that has increased for nine consecutive years and is now more than double the number compared to 10 years earlier. Many people are also driven to forced and voluntary movements for multiple reasons, including environmental factors and/or threats to their human rights and dignity.4
Forcibly displaced people (2010-2020)
The number of refugees5 remains at a record high, growing from 26.0 million in 20196 to 26.4 million at the end of 2020.7 Almost 65 per cent of people forced to flee their country of origin come from just five countries: : Afghanistan, DRC, Myanmar, South Sudan and Syria.8 Developing countries host 83 per cent of refugees abroad, while the least developed countries have provided asylum to 33 per cent of this total.9 Of these refugees, 40 per cent are children and 49 per cent women and girls.10 Some 5.7 million refugees, migrants and asylum seekers remained displaced from Venezuela at mid-2021.11
COVID-19 disruptions have further hampered efforts to find durable solutions. Despite efforts to adapt asylum procedures, the number of new applications worldwide was 45 per cent lower in 2020 than in 2019.12 In 2020, fewer than 300,000 refugees were able to return to their country of origin or resettle to a third country compared to 425,000 the year before. Some 15.7 million refugees (76 per cent) were in a protracted situation at the end of 2020, similar to 2019.13
Largest refugee situations (2020)
Internal displacement is also at an all-time high. The number of IDPs due to violence and conflict reached 48 million in 2020, the highest ever figure and a rise of 4.2 million on the previous year.14 A further 7 million people remained internally displaced due to natural disasters. Millions of IDPs are living in protracted situations, with 40 per cent fewer able to return to their place of residence in 2020 compared to 2019.15
Three quarters of the 48 million people displaced due to violence and conflict come from ten countries, nine of which are located in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.16 Following tensions and ensuing violence in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray, the number of people displaced within the country due to conflict stood at 2.1 million by the end of 2020. In Afghanistan, the number of people displaced within their own country, due to persistent conflict and violence, reached 3.5 million at the end of 2020. This is an 18 per cent increase compared with 2019 and the highest figure in more than a decade.17 By mid-September 2021, a further 678,000 people in Afghanistan were known to have fled their homes due to the increased fighting in the country.18 Significantly, 95 per cent of new conflict-related internal displacements in 2020 happened in countries with a high vulnerability to climate change.
Largest IDPs situations (2020)
COVID-19 has also presented interlocking health, socioeconomic and protection crises for forcibly displaced people. The pandemic is particularly devastating for displaced women and children, who experience higher rates of domestic and sexual violence and child marriages.19 Even before COVID-19, refugee and internally displaced women and girls were at greater risk from gender-based violence (GBV). For example, an estimated one in five forcibly displaced women in humanitarian crises has been subjected to sexual violence – one of many forms of GBV. The pandemic’s socioeconomic impacts have only intensified this risk – heightening tensions in households – while containment measures have created additional barriers to reporting abuse and seeking help.20 A survey of displaced women in 15 post-conflict settings in Africa found a 73 per cent increase in intimate partner violence and a 32 per cent rise in early marriage between May and July 2020.21
Kotoni, DR Congo
Displaced boys play cards in the primary school where they found refuge after fleeing their village in DRC. Their few belongings are stored at the back of the room. Following violent clashes in the surrounding mountains, Kotoni village received more than 9,000 displaced people, doubling its population. Around half of the displaced families have found refuge with host families, others have built makeshift shelters or sleep in the school's classrooms.
OCHA/Ivo Brandau
At the onset of the pandemic, school closures inhibited learning opportunities for children from forcibly displaced households. Protection measures were often lifted and children were exposed to greater risks, reducing their chances of returning to school when they reopen.22
The UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Internal Displacement has called for stepped-up action on solutions anchored in the affirmation of IDPs as rights holders. The panel also called for the recognition of solutions as a development priority, and greater visibility to internal displacement in Government policies, UN strategies, development financing, private sector engagement and the media.23
In 2019, 26 million refugees: 20.4 million refugees under UNHCR’s mandate, 5.6 million Palestine refugees under UNRWA’s mandate. In 2020, 26.4 million refugees: 20.7 million refugees under UNHCR’s mandate, 5.7 million Palestine refugees under UNRWA’s mandate – UNHCR Global Trends 2019, p. 2.