More than one month after the Sudan crisis began, the fighting is picking up again – and with it the mass displacement. Close to one million people have been uprooted by the conflict so far, 200,000 of whom have crossed into neighboring countries.
An overlap of the conflicts in Ukraine and African countries with climate change-triggered disasters around the world has increased the number of internally displaced people to a record 71.1 million at the end of 2022.
IOM Director-General António Vitorino said urgent action is needed in Sudan to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe from unfolding. He stressed that the UN body would not leave the people of Sudan behind.
Intense clashes between Sudan's military and the country's main paramilitary force have left over a hundred dead, including three aid workers. Humanitarian agencies warn that the health system is on the brink of collapse, and that a displacement crisis could ensue.
As the death toll from the Syrian and Turkish earthquake keeps climbing, millions of people in Idlib province in northwestern Syria are in desperate need. The UN, and individuals, are doing what they can to help.
The voice of Pope Francis is very important in Africa, said UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi during a visit to Vatican City and Rome. He met with Pope Francis and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni as well as Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has unleashed the largest movement of refugees since World War II, the UN refugee agency has said. Roughly one third of Ukraine's population is reportedly displaced.
UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi has appealed to the de facto Afghan authorities to revoke the directive limiting Afghan women's possibility to work with NGOs. The ban will "temporarily stop critical activities in support of Afghan people, especially women and children," UNHCR stated.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine combined with worsening emergencies in African countries, Afghanistan and other regions has pushed the number of refugees globally over the 100 million mark, the UNHCR declared.
A German UNHCR partner organization has sounded the alarm over the ramifications of food shortages for refugee populations worldwide. The pandemic, the war in Ukraine and droughts are exacerbating humanitarian crises like the one in Yemen, the NGO warned.
Thousands of displaced Afghans who lived in the capital Kabul have returned to their homes in rural Afghanistan. Each family received $200 to buy food and other essentials from UN refugee agency UNHCR.
The African Center for Strategic Studies reports that conflicts continue to drive record levels of population displacement in Africa. The continent's 36 million forcibly displaced persons represent 44% of the global total.