More people were displaced by conflict and crisis in 2020 than at any other time in recorded history. Sometimes they fled across borders as refugees, but many had to relocate within their own borders. The numbers of the internally displaced are staggering:
The number of people fleeing their homes and staying within their nation’s borders doubled during the last 25 years from about 27 to 55 million.
During the same period, the average amount of time this group spent displaced increased to 17 years.
Providing basic services and covering lost incomes for the internally displacement cost the world over $20 billion in 2020.
Most of the internally displaced in 2020 fled violence or armed conflict.
Low and middle-income countries host nearly all internally displaced people and bear most of the financial burden.
Disasters, climate change, a degraded environment and extreme weather events are increasingly driving people from their homes.
In Bangladesh alone, those displaced by climate change could reach 13.3 million by 2050.
The countries with the largest populations of internally displaced people are Syria (6.5 million) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (5.2 million).
– Source: UNDP