UN refugee agency says more than 122 million people forcibly displaced worldwide

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| Photo Credit: Reuters

The United Nations (UN) refugee agency says the number of people forcibly displaced by violence and persecution around the world has risen to more than 122 million, up by about two million from last year and a near-doubling over the last decade.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) chief Filippo Grandi nonetheless pointed to some “rays of hope” over the last six months, including the returning home of nearly two million Syrians as their country tries to recover from more than a decade of civil war.

The findings come as the refugee agency released its Global Trends Report on Thursday (June 12, 2025), which said the number of people driven abroad or displaced in their home countries by war, violence and persecution as of April rose to 122.1 million, up from 120 million a year earlier.

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Among those, the numbers of internally displaced people jumped by more than 9% to 73.5 million at the end of last year. The numbers represent cumulative figures from years of conflict, violence and persecution, and some displaced people returned home last year even as others fled.

The report comes at a time when humanitarian groups are facing budget cuts from the United States and other traditional Western donors.

UNHCR said nearly two-thirds of people who crossed national borders to flee remained in neighbouring countries, countering the “widespread perception in wealthier regions” that a majority of people were fleeing in a bid to reach places such as Europe or the United States.

The agency said Sudan, which has been driven by civil war, has become home to the world’s largest displacement crisis, with more than 14 million people displaced by the conflict — surpassing Syria, at 13.5 million. “More than 10 million in Afghanistan have been forcibly displaced and some 8.8 million within or from Ukraine,” UNHCR said.