UNHCR Report: 51.2 Million Refugees Worldwide
UNHCR Report: 51.2 Million Refugees Worldwide
The United Nations refugee agency has indicated that at the end of 2013, around 50 million people were forced to move away from their homes. This is the higher number of people displaced since the Second World War. This is the true state of a world still ravaged by war and conflict from Syria to South Sudan.
The poison of war has spread across a number of regions across the world, and asylum-seekers have fled to international locations in search of refuge. People have also been displaced in their own countries. The UNHCR annual report entitled Global Trends Report was released in Beirut this Friday. It states that 51.2 million people have been displaced by the end of last year. This is 6 million more than the end of the previous year.
The data has been compiled from government as well as non-government partner organizations as well as the own records issued by the UNHCR. Syria's civil war has displaced 9 million people from their homes. The massive repercussions of war are apparent now. Can the world's leaders see this?
The total number of people displaced is the highest since World War II. This figure is a stark reflection of ongoing conflicts and persecutions from one corner of the world to another.
What is also alarming is that 51.2 million people have been forcibly displaced by the end of last year which is 6 million more than that of the previous year. This data has been aggregated across countries. UN high commissioner said that the world has shown a limited capacity to ward off conflicts and find a timely solution for the same.
The absence of a global governance system and an unclear sense of power across the globe are the reasons for this, in a statement issued by the UN high commissioner. What is needed at this juncture is accountability on the part of those who are initiating the war and others who are fueling it. If the world cannot achieve peace after such a massive amount of technological advancement, it is truly a shameful state of affairs.
By the end of 2013, 2.5 million Syrians were refugees in neighboring countries and nearly 6.5 million were displaced within this troubled nation. Forced displacement around the world is on the rise. The numbers point to the truth that war has hidden costs which are not immediately apparent. Those who are supporting wars by proxy should realize that they are adding fuel to the fire.
New wars in Ukraine and Iraq are adding to the displacement. Currently, developing countries account for 86% of the world's refugees. With 1.6 million refugees, Pakistan is the biggest host nation followed by Iran and Lebanon.
Nearly 25,300 unaccompanied children sought refuge in foreign countries without their parents, according to UN statistics. If the UNSC does not reinvent itself soon, more chaos will result. The global organization needs to aim at reform from within and without. Power cannot be had without responsibility and accountability. World leaders have the ultimate challenge before them now: how to stop wars rather than fund them. A proactive approach is needed. Peace is possible only if communities respect and understand rather than judge each other.
