On June 20 each year, the world commemorates World Refugee Day, a date to honor people who have been forced to flee their homes.
By the end of 2023, there were 117.3 million forcibly displaced people. UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, estimates that they have increased by 2024. In April the figure already exceeded 120 million people.
The statistics are alarming. Globally, one in 69 people - or 1.5% of the world's population - is forcibly displaced, almost double the number of a decade ago (one in 125 displaced persons).
According to Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, "behind these stark figures, which continue to rise, lie countless human tragedies."
The situation in Palestine deserves special mention. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) estimates that between October and December 2023, some 1.7 million people (more than 75% of the population) were displaced by the Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip. At present, the figure stands at 87%.
In this order of things, the UNRWA has denounced, this Monday, that 193 of its workers have died in the Palestinian enclave since the beginning of the war, the highest number in the history of the UN, which makes it the most dangerous place in the world for humanitarian workers, as the agency has written in a message in an X message.
Since the war began, families in Gaza have been forced to flee again and again.
By the end of 2023, there were 43.4 million refugees in the world. Between 2021 and 2023, 950 people died crossing the Sahara desert; however, the real figure is believed to be much higher. In the same period, 7,600 people died or disappeared in the Mediterranean Sea.
Under cover of night, from the north coast of Africa, "pateras" (small boats) loaded with migrants set sail for Europe. The Mediterranean has for years been the deadliest sea route for refugees and migrants.
How many people fleeing war try to reach the North African coast? How many arrive? How many lie in the deepest anonymity at the bottom of the sea? It is not known exactly.
On the other hand, an estimated 9.1 million people were displaced in Sudan. This is the largest internally displaced population on record. It is followed by displaced populations in Syria (7.2 million) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (6.7 million).
Only in a different, more just and humane world can the tragedy of millions of people forced to flee the land of their birth come to an end.
Source: UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
