‘More than 122 million people forcibly displaced worldwide’

Geneva: The UN refugee agency says the number of people forcible displaced by violence and persecution around the world has risen to more than 122 million, up by about 2 million from last year and a near-doubling over the last decade.

UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi nonetheless pointed to some “rays of hope” over the last six months, including the return home of nearly 2 million Syrians as their country tries to recover from more than a decade of civil war.

The findings come as the refugee agency released its Global Trends Report on Thursday, which said the number of people driven abroad or displaced in their home countries by war, violence and persecution as of April rose to 122.1 million, up from 120 million a year earlier.

Among those, the numbers of internally displaced people jumped by more than 9 per cent to 73.5 million at the end of last year. The numbers represent cumulative figures from years of conflict, violence and persecution, and some displaced people returned home last year even as others fled.

The report comes at a time when humanitarian groups are facing budget cuts from the United States and other traditional Western donors.