Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2022

• People forcefully displaced due to violence, climate crises saw the sharpest rise in 2022.
• It is released annually by the United Nations refugee agency, Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• The number of people who were uprooted from their hometowns due to social and climate crises in 2022 was 21% higher than in 2021.
• More than 108.4 million people were forcibly displaced by the end of 2022, 30% of them were children.
• Of these, 35.3 million were people who had to move to another country for safety (refugees).
• A large share of refugees was from Ukraine, because of Russia-Ukraine War and the displacement of Ukrainians also was the global fastest since World War II.
• Displacement because of Climate disasters – Climate disasters caused 32.6 million internal displacements throughout 2022 and 8.7 million of the people did not manage to return home by the end of the year.
• Disaster related internal displacement accounted for more than half (54 %) of all new displacements in 2022.
• At the end of 2022, an estimated 4.4 million people worldwide were stateless or of undetermined nationality, 2% more than at the end of 2021.
• Stateless people are those who are not recognised as citizens by any government.

UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR)

• It is a United Nation Refugee Agency.
• It aimed to save lives, protecting rights and building a better future for people forced to flee their homes because of conflict and persecution.
• It serves as the ‘guardian’ of the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol.
• So far, 146 countries are party to the 1951 Convention, and 147 to the 1967 Protocol.
• Countries that have ratified the Refugee Convention are obliged to protect refugees that are on their territory, in accordance with its terms.
• India is not a member to this convention nor to the protocol.