The figure was caused mainly by natural disasters and conflicts that force victims to move from their places of residence. The African continent concentrates 80 percent of those displaced by violence, while more than half of those affected by natural causes are found in the Asia-Pacific region. By the end of this year the number is expected to be dwarfed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The figures were released through the annual report of two NGOs, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC). According to the documents, the number of internally displaced persons last year is almost double the number registered 10 years ago.
Of the nearly 60 million displaced people, exactly 59.1 million, at least 53.2 million had to leave their place of residence due to conflict and violence, which showed an increase of 10 percent compared to the final months of the year 2020 , while 5.9% moved due to natural disasters, representing a decrease of 15%.
At a press conference, the directors of both non-governmental organizations highlighted the seriousness of the numbers exposed.
Jan Egeland, head of the NRC stressed that “no year for which we have statistics is as bad” as the past 12 months, while IDMC director Alexandra Bilak pointed out that “displacement is increasing in scale, complexity, severity and duration”.
Ukraine, developing crisis
The conflict in the European nation has caused, so far, some eight million internally displaced persons, figures that may increase by the end of this year.
“The war in Ukraine is making it difficult to help all the displaced, due to its effect on the rise in the price of food, fuel and fertilizers,” stressed the NRC secretary general. According to Egeland, last year was bleak, “but 2022 will be even worse.”
Later he stressed that “things are getting worse not only in Ukraine, but also in other parts of the world where displacement continues, such as the Horn of Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) or Latin America”, where violence continues to occur in nations such as Colombia and in Central America in general.
The nations with the most displacement
In this sense, the countries with the highest numbers of internally displaced persons due to conflicts were Syria, with 6.7 million, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, with at least 5.3 million, Colombia with 5.2 million and 4 .4 million displaced in Afghanistan.
All these nations are surpassed by Ukraine.
Of the 5.9 million people who abandoned their homes due to natural disasters, they are distributed as follows among the three most affected territories. 1.4 million people are Afghans, affected by severe droughts, 943,000 Chinese and at least 700,000 Filipinos.
In total, last year some 23.7 million people were displaced due to causes related to storms, floods and cyclones. Many cases were preventive evacuations, in which those affected were able to return to their homes, unless they had not suffered total material losses.
Both non-governmental institutions, the IDMC and the NRC, paid special attention to young displaced people. More than half of the illustrated numbers, 33 million people, are under 25 years of age.
Other cases to consider
“In Ukraine two-thirds of the children have lost their roots, in Yemen the increasingly worse conditions have left millions of them,” recalled the head of the IDMC, also drawing attention to the case of Colombia.
The condition of displaced minors in that South American nation, who suffer from depression and anxiety to a greater extent than the rest of society, was highlighted. The risks of post-traumatic stress disorder are six times higher, as well as suicide attempts, four times more frequent.
Alexandra Bilak pointed out that it was difficult to assess whether the pandemic caused more displacement. Bilak did say that this unusual situation “made the lives of these displaced people more precarious, with movement restricted in many countries.”
According to the report, these nearly 60 million displaced people represent a cost to the world of 21,000 million dollars, a heavy blow to the nations affected by conflicts. In the case of Syria, the related losses represent 15% of its GDP, while Somalia 10%.
Internally displaced persons figures do not include refugees, who left their country due to disasters or fighting. According to the UNHCR, the United Nations office that cares for these people, in the middle of last year they numbered more than 80 million, according to statistics from this branch of the international organization.
With EFE and Reuters
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