The United Nations refugee agency, which publishes its annual report, counted more than 120 million people forcibly displaced by the end of April. A figure that has been increasing for more than ten years.
Of the “historical levels”, and a phenomenon that continues to progress. There were more than 120 million forcibly displaced people around the world at the end of April, according to the annual report of the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), published on Wednesday June 12. This is almost as much as the total population of the 12th most populous state on the planet, Japan.
It is “the 12th consecutive annual increase”, points out the UN agency. The number of displaced people increased by 8% in one year and almost doubled in a decade. The sharpest increase concerns internally displaced persons, forced to flee within their own country. They represent the majority of displaced people in the world and their number (68.3 million people) has increased by almost 50% in five years, according to the Internal Displacement Observatory.
“We see a large number of displaced people, a scale that we have not seen for a long time”, observed with franceinfo Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson for the UNHCR. To understand this progression, and its long-term nature, it firstly concerns “a proliferation of conflicts”.
“New conflicts are emerging, and other conflicts and situations of mass displacement continue.”
Shabia Mantoo, spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugeesat franceinfo
In its report, the UN agency mentions, for example, the case of Sudan, where a conflict has raged since spring 2023 between the army and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces (FSR). The hostilities caused “one of the world’s largest humanitarian and displacement crises”, with more than 6 million displaced by the end of 2023. “Thousands of people are still displaced every day”, recalls the UNHCR. The war in the Gaza Strip, since the October 7 attacks in Israel, has, in turn, led to a major crisis: 1.7 million forcibly displaced people (i.e. more than 75% of the Gazan population) have had to flee the fighting and bombings.
Added to this is “a resurgence of fighting” in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), gang violence in Haiti or even insecurity “persistent” in Somalia, which only aggravated this phenomenon. In the DRC, the UNHCR has recorded, in 2023, 3.8 million new internally displaced persons. A year earlier, the Russian invasion of Ukraine had already caused another major forced displacement crisis, the largest Europe had seen since World War II.
“War remains the greatest driver of mass displacement,” declared Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, during a press briefing. He denounces “the way conflicts are conducted, with total disregard” international law, and “often with the specific aim of terrorizing populations”. This reality reinforces the increase in forced displacement. Also in 2023, UNHCR recorded 43 humanitarian emergencies in no fewer than 29 countries, a record in the last ten years.
In the case of the DRC, the UNHCR recalls that large-scale forced displacements began there “nearly two decades ago.” It is therefore necessary to note the role played by “the resumption of intensity of old conflicts”, points out the geographer and political scientist Hélène Thiollet, researcher at the CNRS and at the Sciences Po International Research Center. This migration specialist underlines the extent of the “sustainable displacement crises, which last over time”as is the case for Palestinian, Syrian or Afghan refugees.
Nearly 10.9 million Afghans are displaced, most of them within their country or in neighboring states. In 2023, the number of registered Afghan refugees increased (741,000 additional people), according to the UNHCR. In war-ravaged Syria, the agency reports 174,000 more internally displaced people in 2023. At the end of the year, nearly 14 million Syrians remained forcibly displaced, in their country or elsewhere. the foreigner.
“Most conflicts that generate forced displacement are political, social and economic conflicts or crises that last for a very long time.”
Hélène Thiollet, migration specialistat franceinfo
Even a new conflict, like in Sudan, “is linked to older crises”, continues Hélène Thiollet. “The inability to resolve persistent crises” does – and will – only amplify forced displacement, warns UNHCR.
Beyond conflicts, the climate crisis also influences these population movements. The intensification of phenomena linked to global warming, caused by human activity, risks aggravating these forced displacements. In Somalia, there were two million new internal displacements in 2023 “caused by disasters”, observes the UNHCR. Global warming “contributes to further and prolonged travel”, confirms the agency. He “exacerbates” Also “protection needs and risks” for the forcibly displaced: almost three quarters of them live in countries particularly exposed to climate risks.
“We see climate migrations as a future risk, but a whole series of migrations are already climate-related today,” notes François Gemenne, professor at HEC and researcher at the Scientific Research Fund at the University of Liège. “Migrations are classified as economic or political, but they are linked to climate.” The IPCC contributor, specialist in climate migration, mentions in particular the case of populations pushed initially into regions of sub-Saharan Africa, due to drought. Land-related conflicts, another source of displacement, “have fairly deep climatic origins”, continues the researcher.
“We have links that go in all directions between conflicts and climate issues. As long as we do not work more on the causes and the solutions, we will inevitably increase.”
François Gemenne, specialist in climate migrationat franceinfo
According to the UNHCR, 6.1 million people were able, in 2023, to return to their region or country of origin. An encouraging, but fragile, perspective. “Some of these returns may not be sustainable, warns Shabia Mantoo, taking the example of Ukrainians who have returned home. Insecurity and instability persist. As long as there is violence, they may be forced to flee again.”
What responses should we provide to these movements which continue to increase? Hélène Thiollet reminds us: the countries of the South (or global South) very largely take care of forcibly displaced populations. “It is urgent for Western countries to question the role they wish to have in the management and reception of displaced populations.” For the researcher, these States do not take sufficient “their share”.