UN says refugee number hit 100 million in 2022June 16, 2022 - 13:29 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) says the number of people forced to flee their homes in 2021 hit its highest level since records began as the speed and scale of forced displacement outpaces solutions for refugees, RFE/RL reports. The UNHCR said in its annual Global Trends Report, released on June 16, that 89.3 million individuals worldwide were forcibly displaced in 2021 as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, or events seriously disturbing public order. That figure is up 8 percent over the previous year, and well over double the figure a decade earlier, it added. Adding to concerns over the mounting number of refugees, the UNHCR said, was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, which caused the fastest and one of the largest forced displacement crises since World War II, while “other emergencies” in Africa, Afghanistan, and other parts of the world have pushed the figure over the milestone of 100 million during 2022. "Every year of the last decade, the numbers have climbed," United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said. "What comes next is in our hands. We either take action to address this human despair and find lasting solutions, or we keep sprinting toward terrible new landmarks,” he added. According to the report, some 7.1 million Ukrainians have been displaced within their country since Russia launched its war, while more than 6 million refugees have left the country entirely. Meanwhile, the UNHCR said food scarcity, inflation, and the climate crisis are adding to people’s hardship, stretching the humanitarian response just as the funding outlook in many situations appears “bleak.” Last year also saw the 15th straight annual rise in people displaced within their countries by conflict, to 53.2 million, while the speed and volume of displacement is still outpacing the availability of solutions for those displaced -- like return, resettlement or local integration, it said.M/u Photo. AFP via Getty Image Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Pashinyan’s spokesperson denies intention to visit Baku for COP29 Pashinyan’s agenda doesn’t include a trip to Baku for the COP29 conference, his press secretary Nazeli Baghdasaryan has said. Lithuania sending €100,000 to help Armenia fight floods consequences Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan took to social media to thank his Lithuanian counterpart for the contribution. Armenia: Rescue workers restore pedestrian bridge for flood-hit community Rescue workers on Wednesday, June 5 restored a pedestrian bridge in the town of Alaverdi in Armenia’s north. Turkey condemns Uruguay’s recognition of Armenian Genocide Turkey has condemned a newly passed law in Uruguay that recognizes the Armenian Genocide, TRT reports. |