UN: Record 114 million people displaced from their homes worldwide

(Patria) - The number of people displaced from their homes worldwide is estimated to have exceeded a record 114 million, the United Nations said, AFP reports.

The main drivers in the first half of 2023 were conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as the protracted humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and a combination of drought, floods and insecurity in Somalia, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said.

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

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

The number of displaced people worldwide jumped from 108.4 million at the end of last year to 110 million by the end of June 2023, UNHCR said in its Mid-Year Trends report.

A UNHCR spokesperson confirmed to AFP that the figure of 114 million at the end of September is a record since the agency began collecting data in 1975. The new estimate predates the outbreak of war between Hamas and Israel.