Fueled by Russia’s war on Ukraine, forced displacement highest since World War II
The full-scale war that Russia is waging against Ukraine caused a record increase in the number of refugees in 2022, the UN Refugee Agency said in a press release on June 14.
The number of displaced persons in Ukraine rose from 27,300 at the end of 2021 to 5.7 million by the end of 2022.
The year showed the fastest outflow of refugees worldwide since World War II.
Fueled by Russia’s war on Ukraine, the global number of refugees grew by 21% by the end of last year to the highest number ever of 108.4 million, 19.1 million more than in 2021.
The number grew to 110 million by May 2023, due to Russia’s continued attacks on Ukraine and the war in Sudan.
Armed aggression and climate-driven upheaval are among the main reasons for uprooting from home, the UN report says.
“These figures show us that some people are far too quick to rush to conflict, and way too slow to find solutions. The consequence is devastation, displacement, and anguish for each of the millions of people forcibly uprooted from their homes,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said.
“Above all, much more must be done to end conflict and remove obstacles so that refugees have the viable option to return home voluntarily, safely and with dignity," he added.
Most Ukrainians displaced both within the country (internally displaced people, or IDPs) and abroad (refugees) intend to return home - 77% and 79% respectively, the UN said.
Out of 3,640,000 Ukrainians that fled the country since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, 1,130,000 have already returned, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskyi said on April 22, 2023.
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