U.N. Reports Increased Number of Displaced People
WASHINGTON — The United Nations refugee agency said Tuesday that an estimated 7.6 million people around the globe were displaced because of conflict or persecution in 2012, including 1.1 million refugees and 6.5 million people who were displaced within their own countries.
The agency’s Global Trends report said that there were an average of 23,000 newly displaced people per day last year, totaling 28.8 million by the end of 2012. The highest levels of internal displacement were in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Syria, where there are more than 4.5 million people currently displaced within the country.
Even as the number of displaced people rises in Syria, the agency said it remains difficult to get aid into the country, which is in the throes of a civil war that has gone on for more than two years.
“We have convoys of trucks with relief items that actually cross the conflict lines, and obviously these are very dangerous missions,” T. Alexander Aleinikoff, the United Nations deputy high commissioner for refugees, said in an interview. “But we would like to do much more inside the country.”
According to the report, there are more refugees or internally displaced persons around the world now than at any time since 1994. Mr. Aleinikoff said that there were 3,000 more refugees every day last year, with 55 percent coming from five countries — Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Sudan and Syria.
Data from governments, nongovernmental organizations and the United Nations showed that more than 45.2 million people were in situations of displacement at the end of 2012 compared to 42.5 million one year earlier. That number includes 15.4 million refugees, 937,000 asylum seekers and 28.8 million people forced to flee within the borders of their own countries.
Refugee agency officials in Washington and Geneva said the Syrian conflict remained a top concern for the organization.
“Given the nature of the crisis and the rapidity of which people are coming over the border and the needs they have, the pressure is mounting,” Mr. Aleinikoff said.
According to figures from the refugee agency, the conflict in Syria forced 647,000 people to flee to neighboring countries in 2012, the largest annual exodus by a single refugee group since 1999 when more than 867,000 people fled Kosovo. The United Nations estimated that 1.6 million refugees have been affected since the beginning of the Syrian conflict in March 2011. Mr. Aleinikoff said that number is expected to grow to 3 million by the end of the year.
Earlier this month, the United Nations and partner agencies began an appeal for $4.4 billion, the largest in history, for urgent humanitarian aid to help Syrians.
President Obama announced during his meeting with Group of 8 leaders on Monday that his administration would give an additional $300 million in humanitarian assistance to help feed, shelter and provide medical care for Syrians. The United States remains the single largest contributor of humanitarian aid for the Syrian people, with the promise of the new assistance bringing the total United States commitment for the Syrian crisis to nearly $815 million.
Anne C. Richard, the assistant secretary of state for population, refugees and migration, said in a testimony before the United States Helsinki Commission last week that the United States is ready to resettle Syrians in the country. It dropped from the list of the top 10 refugee-hosting countries in the world in 2012, and Turkey moved in to replace it. Other countries have also signed on to the idea of resettling Syrians within their borders. In March, Germany agreed to resettle 5,000 refugees. United Nations officials said discussions in Geneva to develop the refugee resettlement plan for Syrians were still in the early stages.
“We are looking at resettlement opportunities and we would welcome an increased burden-sharing of the entire international community. But the number likely to be resettled is likely to be very small,” Mr. Aleinikoff said. “You need to find other countries that are able to accept large sums of refugees and we haven’t seen those offers.” NYTimes