The number of people displaced from their homes across the world climbed slightly to 65.6 million a year ago, with the escalating conflict in South Sudan accounting for the rise, the United Nations (UN) refugee agency said Monday.
The figures released ahead of World Refugee Day showed that a full 10.3 million of the world's displaced people fled their homes past year alone, including 3.4 million who crossed worldwide borders to become refugees.
The worldwide number of asylum seekers - which the United Nations refugee agency defines as "people who are seeking global protection but whose refugee status is yet to be determined" - reached 2.8 million at the end of past year.
"The United States commends South Sudan for hosting almost 270,000 refugees from neighbouring countries, while deeply regretting the brutal and senseless conflict now underway in South Sudan, which has displaced almost four million South Sudanese, or more than one-third of the population, from their homes". These people are classified as internally displaced people. The UN agency said it found a record 65.6 million people were forcibly displaced at the end of 2016.
Another 22.5 million people - half of them children - were registered as refugees a year ago, the UNHCR report showed, pointing out that this is "the highest level ever recorded".
Angelina Wicyote, a 39-year-old mother of eight and resident of the camp, center, stands with her family during a visit of UNCHR High Commissioner Filippo Grandi to South Sudan's largest camp for the internally-displaced, in Bentiu, South Sudan Sunday, June 18, 2017.
The main country of origin for refugees in 2016 was Syria, accounting for 5.5 million refugees.
Global Trends is a statistical assessment of forced displacement, and as such a number of key developments in the refugee world in 2016 are not captured.
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With a record 65.6 million people past year forcibly uprooted from their homes by violence and persecution, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on June 20 called on the worldwide community to provide support and solidarity.
The UNHCR also estimated that at least 10 million people were stateless or at risk of statelessness in 2016.
One was intercepted by the Libyan coastguard and towed back to shore, while they saw the other snap in half, throwing many of those onboard into the sea, Fossi said. "Now, the authorities have a greater responsibility because they are in charge of this country and it is under their leadership that we must seek security", Grandi said. "For a world in conflict‚ what is needed is determination and courage‚ not fear".
While Syria has the largest displaced population at 12 million, South Sudan has the world's fastest growing refugee crisis, with 3.3 million displaced at the end of 2016.
Uganda, for instance, has over the past year received more than 2,000 refugees from South Sudan each and every day - more than many European countries took in a year, NRC chief Egeland pointed out.
Some 552,200 refugees returned to their countries of origin - more than double the previous year.
Among those refugees who managed to flee to another country, Syrians had the highest asylum acceptance rate, at 99 per cent, followed by Iraqis (68 per cent), Iranians (59 per cent), Afghans (57 per cent) and Pakistanis (24%). "But, Lebanon, another one of the neighboring countries, is the country that has the highest per capita ratio compared to the local population in terms of the number of refugees".
UNHCR also sounded an alarm over another rapidly escalating crisis in Democratic Republic of Congo, where over 1 million people have been displaced internally and over 30,000 terms have crossed into Angola since August.
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