Refugee Planet: There Have Never Been This Many Displaced People on Earth

[JEB]

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/06/20/refugee-planet-there-have-never-been-many-displaced-people-earth

Half of refugees worldwide are children, new United Nations report finds
by
Nadia Prupis, staff writer

An unprecedented 65.3 million people have been displaced around the world due to war and persecution, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) reported on Monday.

The new figure is not only a 21st century record, it is also the first time that the numbers have surpassed 60 million—which means one in every 113 people worldwide is now either an asylum-seeker, internally displaced, or a refugee, the UN said. Half of them are children.

Over the past five years, forced displacement has increased quicker than ever due to long-standing conflicts in regions like Somalia and Afghanistan; "dramatic" escalations in newly destabilized countries like Syria, Yemen, and Ukraine; and a growing resistance from other nations to providing asylum for refugees, the UN reported.

"More people are being displaced by war and persecution and that's worrying in itself, but the factors that endanger refugees are multiplying too," said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.

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Read the rest of the short informative sobering article at the link:
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/06/20/refugee-planet-there-have-never-been-many-displaced-people-earth