Number of IDPs in the world reaches 55 million
By Nneka Nwogwugwu
The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has revealed in a report on Thursday, that persistent conflicts and explosions of violence in the world has forced 40.5 million people to become newly displaced within their countries.
This serves as the highest number of newly displaced reported in 10 years, bringing the total number of people living in internal displacement (IDPs) around the world to a record 55 million, the report showed.
The number of IDPs is now more than double the roughly 26 million people who have fled across borders as refugees.
NRC chief, Jan Egeland described the report’s findings as “shocking”.
“We are failing to protect the world’s most vulnerable people from conflict and disasters,” he said in a statement.
The report found that three-quarters of the people who fled internally last year were victims of natural disasters, in particular ones related to extreme weather.
Intense cyclones, monsoon rains and floods hit highly exposed and densely populated areas in Asia and the Pacific, while the Atlantic hurricane season “was the most active on record,” it pointed out.
“Extended rainy seasons across the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa uprooted millions more.”
Experts say climate change is increasing the intensity and frequency of such extreme weather events.
