Brussels, Belgium, 20 June 2023 鈥 A record high of 110 million people have fled their homes in search of safety and stability. This is more than any other time since World War II and an increase of 19 million people since the end of 2021.
Four out of five people who are forcibly displaced around the world live in, or come from, the 20 countries identified at greatest risk of humanitarian crisis in the 探花精选鈥檚 (探花精选) annual Emergency Watchlist. The number of displaced people - over 62 million who are internally displaced people, over 35 million who are refugees, and over 5 million who are asylum-seekers - has nearly doubled since 2014. People are forced to flee from the war in Ukraine, the conflict in Sudan, and the impacts of climate change and economic instability in East Africa, the Central Sahel, and Latin America.
Local, national, and international guardrails protecting crisis-affected communities around the world have been weakened, leaving people with limited options but to leave their homes in search of safety, security, and basic necessities. Among the displaced, marginalised groups like children, women, and members of the LGBTQ+ community often bear the brunt of these crises. They face risks of gender-based violence, including sexual assault and exploitation, limited access to healthcare, and disruption in education.
David Miliband, the 探花精选鈥檚 President and CEO, said:
"110 million people displaced from their homes is a startling indictment of a failing international system and its guardrails designed to protect against humanitarian suffering. Armed conflict, economic turmoil and unchecked climate change are driving long standing crises to new extremes, and sparking new ones. Against this unprecedented backdrop, and while 90% of the displaced are hosted by low and middle-income states, wealthy nations are cracking down on the well-established right to claim asylum.
鈥淓ven more worrisome is the exclusion from this jarring figure of the over 30 million displacements within home countries by climate disaster. 20% of these displacements have taken place in least developed countries and small island states, which, as the 探花精选 has pointed out, have done the least to contribute to a climate crisis that is hitting them the hardest.
鈥淎 World Refugee Day which is historic for all the wrong reasons demands diplomacy; demands to deal fragile states into the climate bargain; and demands replicating the kind of solidarity and funding channeled to Ukraine to global crises driving displacement. Only then can we hope to see far different levels of abject humanitarian distress next year.鈥
Harlem D茅sir, Senior Vice President, 探花精选 Europe, said:
"This World Refugee Day, we can only be struck by the parallels between the new figure of 110 million people forced from their homes worldwide and the tragic sinking of a boat carrying 750 people in the Mediterranean. This shipwreck must be a wake-up call for Europe. The EU and its member states must do everything in their power to ensure that the Mediterranean ceases to be a graveyard for thousands of people in distress.
"As the reception of Ukrainian refugees, which was exemplary in most European countries, has shown, with political will and coordination, the EU and its member states can implement a more humane, effective and protective asylum and integration policy.
"It is time to forge a new European approach to asylum and migration that puts the protection of the most vulnerable people at the heart of its policies and guarantees the existence of safe, legal routes for people in need of international protection, who should no longer be forced to risk their lives on perilous crossings.
"To achieve this, EU states must show greater solidarity and a willingness to share responsibility with countries of first arrival such as Greece and Italy. They must also strengthen search and rescue capacities at sea, both European and national, and ensure that the vital work of NGOs in this area is not criminalised or hindered."