Disasters, wars meant internal displacement for 33.4 million in 2019

Some 33.4 million people became refugees within their own country last year, the highest number since 2012, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) reported on Tuesday in Geneva.

Far more people became internally displaced because of natural disasters than because of conflicts in 2019, according to the centre, which is part of the non-governmental Norwegian Refugee Council aid group.

People who were uprooted last year included 24.9 million who fled disasters, such as cyclones in Bangladesh, India and Mozambique, as well as hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas. Floods also triggered mass flight in Africa.

Conflicts forced 8.5 million people to flee within their countries, including Burkina Faso, Congo, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Syria.

The global internally displaced population stood at 50.8 million at the end of the year – the sum of those who were uprooted in previous years and in 2019, minus the many who were able to return to their homes.

“Collectively, we are failing by epic proportions to protect the world’s most vulnerable,” said Norwegian Refugee Council chief Jan Egeland.

“In this age of coronavirus, continued political violence is utterly senseless,” he said in a statement, urging governments to seek ceasefires and peace talks.

Read also: Bank of Japan decides on more easing measures amid pandemic fallout

IMDC director Alexandra Bilak noted that the coronavirus pandemic is making internally displaced people even more vulnerable.

“It will compromise their already precarious living conditions, by further limiting their access to essential services and humanitarian aid,” she said. (dpa)