The numbers of displaced people in the world has increased in the first half of 2021, according to an interim report by the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR. More than 84 million worldwide were either refugees, asylum seekers or internally displaced by June 2021.
The UN human rights chief has called on countries to take in people uprooted by natural disasters. According to a new World Bank report, climate change could cause some 216 million people in six regions to move within their countries by 2050.
The foreign minister of Luxembourg, Jean Asselborn, has urged the European Union to accept quotas of refugees from Afghanistan. But some EU countries, including Austria, say Afghans fleeing the Taliban takeover should not be offered protection in Europe.
The International Paralympic Committee has revealed the Refugee Paralympic Team for the upcoming Tokyo Games. Six athletes with a disability, including the first female one, will compete in athletics, swimming, canoeing and taekwondo. The announcement comes three weeks after the presentation of the Refugee Olympic Team.
The International Olympic Committee and the UN refugee agency have revealed the final refugee squad competing under the Olympic flag during next month's Tokyo Games. Six of the 29 members were already part of the first refugee team at Rio 2016.
With the Olympic Games just two months away, refugee athletes are putting everything they have into reaching the goal of competing on the team in Tokyo.
The Swiss government has announced it will take in up to 1,600 refugees till the end of 2023. Most beneficiaries will be persons fleeing conflict and persecution in five different countries.
UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations, and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, have signed a cooperation protocol to support refugees and forcibly displaced people. In a statement, they says the want to harness "the transformative power of football to assist and uphold their rights and strengthen their integration in their host communities."
The UN refugee agency UNHCR said that refugee resettlement was at a "record low" in 2020. The agency called on more countries to offer resettlement places in the future in order to save lives.
According to the latest UN migration report, the growth of global numbers of migrants in 2020 was "slowed by about 27% or two million migrants due to COVID-19."
A new report by the UN's International Labour Organization (ILO) reveals that migrants earn up to 42% less than national workers in high-income countries, with women worse off than men. The COVID-19 pandemic will likely exacerbate the pay gap.
The year 2020 is not yet over, but already the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has estimated that the number of the forcibly displaced "surpassed 80 million at mid-year." This is according to a report on trends in global forced displacement released on December 9.