Over 108M people were forcibly displaced worldwide in 2022: Report

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

GENEVA (AA) - Some 108.4 million people were forcibly displaced worldwide in 2022 as a result of persecution, conflict, violence and human rights violations, according to a report released on Wednesday.

The Global Trends in Forced Displacement 2022 report by the UN Refugee Agency (UNCHR) found that the figure includes 62.5 million internally displaced people, 35.3 million refugees, 5.4 million asylum seekers and 5.2 million people in need of international protection.

The heaviest burden is on the shoulders of low and middle-income countries, as they host 76% of the world’s refugees and other people in need of international protection.

The least developed countries provided asylum to 20% of the total, the report said, while 70% of the total were hosted in countries neighboring their countries of origin.

- Türkiye hosts largest refugee population

The report underlined that Türkiye hosts the largest refugee population worldwide with nearly 3.6 million refugees.

It is followed by Iran with 3.4 million, Colombia with 2.5 million and Germany with 2.1 million.

Relative to their national populations, Lebanon and Aruba hosted the largest number of refugees and other people in need of international protection as one in seven and one in six are displaced, respectively.

Meanwhile children, which account for 30% of the world’s population, represented 40% of all forcibly displaced people, according to the report.

On new claims, the report said the US was the world's largest recipient of new individual applicants, as it received 730,400 claims of a total 2.6 million in 2022.

Germany followed the US with 217,800. Costa Rica, Spain and Mexico completed the top five recipients.

The report underlined that 52% of all refugees and other people in need of international protection came from just three countries: Syria (6.5 million), Ukraine (5.7 million) and Afghanistan (5.7 million).

Also, the total number of refugees worldwide rose by a record 35%, or 8.9 million people, to 34.6 million at the end of 2022, it said.

The increase was largely due to refugees from Ukraine fleeing the armed conflict in their country and revised estimates of Afghans in Iran and Pakistan, it added.

"These figures show us that some people are far too quick to rush to conflict and way too slow to find solutions," said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. "The consequence is devastation, displacement, and anguish for each of the millions of people forcibly uprooted from their homes."

- Returns and resettlements

The report also recorded some positive progress as six million displaced people returned to their areas of countries of origin in 2022, including 5.7 million internally displaced people (IDPs) and 339,300 refugees.

Meanwhile, 114,300 refugees were resettled, doubling the figure of the previous year (57,500), according to government statistics.

Also, the UNHCR submitted 116,500 refugees to states for resettlement, according to the report.

"While the number of refugees and IDPs who found a solution increased in 2022 compared to the previous year, durable solutions continue to remain a reality for very few people," the report noted.

During 2022, at least 5.7 million IDPs returned to their place of origin, 8% more compared to the previous year, it said.

And for refugees, solutions such as voluntary repatriation, local integration and resettlement to a third country and family reunification prompted 339,300 refugees to return to their countries of origin, while 114,300 refugees were resettled to a safe third country.

For each refugee that returned or was resettled in 2022, there were 16 new refugees, the report added.