Ukraine, Pakistan lead sharp hike in global displacement, migration

The global monitors of migration - Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) have together observed a massive 20% year-to-year increase in the number of people displaced with their own country due to multiple crisis, internal and external in 2022. According to an AFP report, a record-breaking number of internally displaced people (IDPs) have registered as a result of the situation. In 2022, an unprecedented 71.1 million IDPs were documented, indicating a 20 percent increase compared to the previous year, the study finds. It stated that the surge in displacement was primarily caused by the ongoing war in Ukraine led by Russia and the devastating monsoon floods in Pakistan. And even as conflict-related displacement surged, natural disasters continued to account for most new internal displacement, spurring 32.6 million such movements in 2022 – up 40 percent from a year earlier. Additionally, a staggering 60.9 million new cases of internal displacement were reported in 2022, with some individuals being forced to flee multiple times throughout the year. This represents an all-time high in terms of new displacements, marking a significant 60 percent rise compared to the approximately 38 million fresh displacements recorded in 2021. Describing the figures as “extremely high,” Alexandra Bilak, the head of IDMC, highlighted the impact of the Ukrainian conflict, the floods in Pakistan, various ongoing conflicts worldwide, as well as numerous sudden and gradual disasters spanning from the Americas to the Pacific region. Regions which saw maximum migration While internal displacement is a global phenomenon, nearly three quarters of the world’s IDPs live in just 10 countries: Syria, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ukraine, Colombia, Ethiopia, Yemen, Nigeria, Somalia and Sudan. The year 2022 witnessed a significant increase in new internal displacements due to conflicts, reaching a staggering 28.3 million cases. This figure nearly doubled compared to the previous year and was three times higher than the average annual displacement over the past decade. Among these displacements, 17 million were caused by the internal conflict in Ukraine, while an additional eight million people were forced to flee their homes due to the devastating floods in Pakistan. Sub-Saharan Africa experienced approximately 16.5 million displacements, with more than half attributed to conflicts, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia. Is there an end to it? These numbers indicate that global internal displacement is expected to continue growing this year, driven partly by emerging conflicts such as the ongoing violence in Sudan, which has compelled hundreds of thousands of people to flee. According to United Nations data, over 700,000 individuals have already become internally displaced since the outbreak of conflict on April 15th, while another 150,000 people have fled the country altogether. “We have already recorded the same number of displacements since the start of the most recent conflict in April as we did for the entire year of 2022,” stated Bilak, emphasizing the volatile situation on the ground. She further highlighted that those newly displaced by the conflict were joining the ranks of over three million people who were already displaced across Sudan. Progress lost In the AFP report, Jan Egeland, the head of the NRC (Norwegian Refugee Council), referred to the simultaneous crises that have led to an escalating number of displacements worldwide as a “perfect storm.” In a statement, Egeland expressed how conflicts and disasters intertwined in the past year, exacerbating the vulnerabilities and inequalities that people already faced, ultimately resulting in an unprecedented scale of displacement. He further emphasized that the war in Ukraine not only contributed to the displacement crisis but also amplified a global food security emergency that disproportionately affected internally displaced individuals. Egeland stated that this convergence of crises, known as the “perfect storm,” has significantly undermined the progress achieved in reducing global hunger and malnutrition over the years. (With inputs from agencies) Read all the Latest News, Trending News,  Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.