UN Says Number Of Displaced People Globally Tops 80 Million In 2020

Faizan Hashmi Published January 20, 2021 | 02:44 PM

UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has estimated that the number of the forcibly displaced persons has surpassed the mark of 80 million during 2020 as the entire world plunged into an undeniable crisis of COVID-19 transforming human life upside down

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 20th Jan, 2021 ) :UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has estimated that the number of the forcibly displaced persons has surpassed the mark of 80 million during 2020 as the entire world plunged into an undeniable crisis of COVID-19 transforming human life upside down.

A recent report on trends in global forced displacement which was released back in December 2020 highlighted the risk posed to the displaced communities particularly the vulnerable members.

Turkey has become the number one country that continued to maintain its dominance in hosting the greatest number of refugees worldwide, with a total of 3.6 million registered displaced persons on its territory while Germany came in fifth place in the ranking with 1.1 million refugees hosted at the present.

As the year 2020 dawned, according to the UNHCR's latest report, "Some 79.5 million people had been forced from their homes due to persecution, conflict, and human rights violations.

" These displaced masses also included 29.6 million refugees, 4.2 million asylum seekers, as well as 45.7 million internally displaced people (IDPs).

The report underscored that war, conflicts (both existing and new) and the coronavirus pandemic have all contributed to increase those figures as the year has passed.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said: "The forced displacement has doubled in the last decade. With numbers estimated to have passed 80 million in mid-2020." Grandi called this another bleak milestone that would continue to grow unless world leaders stop wars.

Around 67 percent of refugees among Venezuelans displaced abroad had originated from just five countries, the UNHCR mid-year trends report highlighted.

It added that as many as 6.6 million refugees came from Syria, 3.7 million from Venezuela; 2.7 million from Afghanistan, 2.3 million from South Sudan and 1 million people from Myanmar.