The United Nations refugee agency has reported that Russia's war in Ukraine has pushed global displacement numbers above 100 million for the first time, warning the resulting hunger crisis could force many more to flee their homes.
UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said efforts to address the global food insecurity crisis, which has been dramatically aggravated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, was of "paramount importance ... to prevent a larger number of people moving".
Speaking to reporters, he added: "If you ask me how many ... I don't know, but it will be pretty big numbers."
Russia's invasion of Ukraine, traditionally a breadbasket to the world, has sparked dramatic grain and fertiliser shortages, sent global prices soaring and put hundreds of millions of people at risk of hunger.
Unless we learn again how to make peace, the number of people #ForcedToFlee their homes by war, persecution and violence will continue to grow.
— Filippo Grandi (@FilippoGrandi) June 16, 2022
We reached 89 million at the end of 2021 and we have gone over 100 million following the war in Ukraine.https://t.co/lYSmesGNel
"The impact, if this is not resolved quickly, would be devastating," Grandi said. "It is already devastating."
His comments came as he presented the UNHCR refugee agency's annual report on global displacement, showing that a record 89.3 million people were displaced at the end of 2021 - more than doubling in a decade.
But, since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on 24 February, as many as 14 million Ukrainians may have fled within their own war-ravaged country or across borders as refugees, pushing global displacement past the grim 100-million mark for the first time.
Terrible trend
"Every year of the last decade, the numbers have climbed," Grandi said.
"Either the international community comes together to take action to address this human tragedy, resolve conflicts and find lasting solutions, or this terrible trend will continue."
The UN agency found that at the end of 2021, a record 27.1 million people were living as refugees, while the number of asylum seekers rose 11 percent to 4.6 million.
1 in every 78 people on earth is now displaced.
— UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency (@Refugees) June 16, 2022
These are some of the crises behind this tragic milestone. #GlobalTrends pic.twitter.com/eqRJ0mbKxI
And for the 15th straight year, the number of people living displaced within their own country due to conflict swelled, hitting 53.2 million.
The UNHCR report said last year was notable for the number of protracted conflicts in places like Afghanistan that escalated, even as new ones flared.
At the same time, the UNHCR warned that growing food scarcity, inflation and the climate crisis were adding to hardship and stretching the humanitarian response, threatening to weaken already dire funding levels for many crises.
(with AFP)
