GENEVA, Oct 25, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - The number of people worldwide living in 
forced displacement from their homes is estimated to have exceeded 114 
million, the United Nations said Wednesday -- a record figure.

"The number of people displaced by war, persecution, violence and human 
rights violations globally is likely to have exceeded 114 million at the end 
of September," UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said in a statement.

The main drivers in the first half of 2023 were the conflicts in Ukraine, 
Sudan, Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo; a prolonged humanitarian 
crisis in Afghanistan; and a combination of drought, floods and insecurity in 
Somalia, UNHCR said.

"The world's focus now is -- rightly -- on the humanitarian catastrophe in 
Gaza. But globally, far too many conflicts are proliferating or escalating, 
shattering innocent lives and uprooting people," said UN refugees chief 
Filippo Grandi.

"The international community's inability to solve conflicts or prevent new 
ones is driving displacement and misery. We must look within, work together 
to end conflicts and allow refugees and other displaced people to return home 
or restart their lives," he said in a statement.

In its Mid-Year Trends Report, which analyses forced displacement during the 
first six months of 2023, UNHCR said that by the end of June, 110 million 
people had been forcibly displaced worldwide.

That figure was up 1.6 million from the end of 2022.

A UNHCR spokesman confirmed to AFP the new figure was a record since the 
agency began collecting data in 1975.

Since Israel launched withering strikes on Gaza in response to an 
unprecedented cross-border attack by Hamas militants on October 7, the number 
of people internally displaced within Gaza is estimated at about 1.4 million, 
according to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA.

More than half of all people who are forced to flee never cross an 
international border, UNHCR said.

Its mid-year report said that globally, almost one-third of all forcibly 
displaced people originated from just three countries: Afghanistan, Syria and 
Ukraine.

"As we watch events unfold in Gaza, Sudan and beyond, the prospect of peace 
and solutions for refugees and other displaced populations might feel 
distant," said Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

"But we cannot give up. With our partners we will keep pushing for -- and 
finding -- solutions for refugees."