Politicians must find solutions to displacement: UNHCR
By Ghadeer Ghloum
KUWAIT: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) invited media representatives to present a report that shows the UNHCR annual global directions, which includes the main statistical directions, the latest numbers of refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons and stateless people around the world.
During the meeting, Communications Officer – Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (GCC) Khaled Kabbara explained that by the end of 2022, the number of people displaced due to wars, persecution, violence and human rights violations reached a record of 108.4 million people, an increase of 19.1 million people from the previous year, which is the largest increase ever.
The rise in displacement continued in 2023, as the conflict in Sudan led to new inflows, pushing the global total to an estimated 110 million people. Kabbara said the reason for highlighting this matter is for alerting politicians that we must work together to find solutions and bring peace, sustainable solutions and opportunities that ensure people have a decent life and enable them to have a role in the effectiveness of the community, in addition to alerting the importance of continuing to provide the necessary financial support and funding for humanitarian actors.
Host countries mainly low-income The forced displacement categories include refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced persons and other individuals in need of international protection. UNHCR protects and assists forcibly displaced persons, returnees and stateless individuals, in addition to other groups in need of help. Kabbara explained the difference between internally displaced people and refugees. He said an internally displaced person is someone who is displaced within their own country without crossing international borders, whereas a refugee is someone who crosses into neighboring countries.
According to statistics in the report, Kabbara said Turkey hosts the most refugees, followed by Iran, Colombia, Germany and Pakistan. He emphasized there is an important point that needs to be highlighted due to some people’s misunderstanding that a refugee is a person who travels to advanced countries to search for a better life.
But the reality is not so, and this idea is nothing but a stereotypical picture of such individuals. According to the statistics, data indicate 76 percent of the countries that host refugees are low-income countries, and another 70 percent of hosting is done by countries neighboring the refugees’ home countries. This confirms that refugees prefer to be close to their original homelands so that they can return when solutions are available for the reasons that led to this situation.
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