center in Renk County, Upper Nile State, South Sudan, on April 30, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]
The number of people displaced by war, persecution, violence and human rights abuses stood at a record 108.4 million by the end of 2022, up 19.1 million on a year earlier and the biggest ever increase, the United Nations (UN) refugee agency said on Wednesday.
In its annual report titled "Global Trends in Forced Displacement 2022," the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that the upward trajectory in global forced displacement showed no sign of slowing in 2023 as the eruption of conflict in Sudan triggered new outflows, pushing the global total to an estimated 110 million by May.
According to the report, of the global total, 35.3 million were refugees, who crossed an international border to find safety.
The number of refugees from Ukraine soared from 27,300 at the end of 2021 to 5.7 million at the end of 2022 - representing the fastest outflow of refugees anywhere since World War II.
At the end of 2022, an estimated 4.4 million people worldwide were stateless or of undetermined nationality, 2 percent more than at the end of 2021, the report showed.
Whether measured by economic means or population ratios, the world's low and middle-income countries host the most displaced people. The 46 least-developed countries account for less than 1.3 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP), yet they hosted more than 20 percent of all refugees.
"People around the world continue to show extraordinary hospitality for refugees as they extend protection and help to those in need, but much more international support and more equitable responsibility sharing is required, especially with those countries that are hosting most of the world's displaced," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said.
"Above all, much more must be done to end conflict and remove obstacles so that refugees have the viable option to return home voluntarily, safely and with dignity," he added.
The latest UNHCR report was launched six months ahead of the second Global Refugee Forum, a major gathering in Geneva, Switzerland.
