The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees sees in this symbolic figure an “alarm signal”, reinforced by the urgency of the situation in Ukraine.
Le Monde
The invasion of Ukraine by Russia pushed for the first time the number of people forced to leave their home in the world above the 100 million mark, the United Nations warned Monday, May 23. “The number of people forced to flee conflicts, violence, human rights violations and persecution has crossed the vertiginous bar of 100 million for the first time, under the effect of the war in Ukraine and other deadly conflicts “, Writes the High Commission for Refugees in a press release.
“The figure of 100 million is striking, source of concern and gives to think. It is a figure that should never have been reached, said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grand . This must serve as a alarm signal to allow us to resolve and prevent destructive conflicts, to end persecution and to fight against the deep causes which force innocent people to flee their home. “
The situation was already serious, as revealed by UNHCR statistics. At the end of 2021, the number of uprooted people in the world had reached 90 million, due to new waves of violence or prolonged conflicts in countries such as Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Burma, Nigeria, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Then on February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of neighboring Ukraine, throwing new millions of people on the roads to flee the fighting and join less exposed regions or another country.
An unprecedented scale since the Second World War 2>
Europe had not experienced such a rapid flow of refugees since the end of the Second World War. Almost 6.5 million Ukrainians have left the country, mainly women and children, men of age to fight to stay in the country. And the UN estimates that they could be 8.3 million by the end of the year. In Ukraine itself, it is estimated that around 8 million people are internal displaced.
Before the Russian invasion, Ukraine had 37 million people in the regions under the control of its government. This figure excludes Crimea, annexed in 2014 by Russia, and the eastern regions controlled by prorussian separatists. These 100 million uprooted represent more than 1 % of the world’s population, and only 13 countries in the world have a population greater than this number, recalls the UNHCR, to give a better idea of the extent of the phenomenon.
“The response of the international community towards people fleeing the war in Ukraine was extremely positive”, said Filippo Grandi. “This surge of compassion is very real and similar mobilization is necessary for all other crises in the world,” he said. But the momentum of generosity and a mobilization of public aid for Ukraine contrasts strongly with the much more mixed reception reserved for refugees from other war theaters such as Afghanistan or Syria.