A recently released global trends report by the  UNHCR has shown that more than 100 million people have been forced to flee their homes due to conflict or climaxing effects of climate change. According to the UN, these displacements, as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, are causing a worsening food crisis in countries already suffering economic downturns.

At least 10 countries off of the United Nation’s list are in Africa, where low to medium conflict took place in 2021, according to the World Bank.

Further quoting the report, by the end of 2021, the number of forcibly displaced people was 89.3 million, including 27.1 million refugees, 21.3 million refugees under UNHCR’s mandate, and 5.8 million Palestine refugees under UNRWA’s mandate, 53.2 million internally displaced people, 4.6 million asylum seekers and 4.4 million Venezuelans displaced abroad.

By May 2022, that number had grown from 89.3 million to 100 million, largely due to the war in Ukraine.

“If you have a food crisis on top of everything I have described – war, human rights, climate – it will just accelerate the trends I’ve described in this report,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi told journalists this week, describing the figures as “staggering”.

The UN has asked that the staggering number of refugees, especially in Africa should not be ignored in favour of their western counterparts.

For instance, in a recent report, the Norwegian Refugee Council shared that In 2021, the world’s 10 most neglected refugee crises were all in Africa, pointing toward the need to offer immediate humanitarian assistance.

The fastest-growing refugee crises

The war in Ukraine is the fastest-growing and largest displacement crisis since World War II, with more than 7 million refugee movements recorded since February 24, following Russia’s invasion. Including IDPs, it is estimated that some 14 million Ukrainians have had to flee their homes.

The infographic below visualises the fastest-growing refugee crises around the world.

After Ukraine, Syrians are the second biggest population of refugees today (6.8 million) followed by Palestinians (5.8 million) and Venezuelans (4.4 million).

On the receiving end, low- and middle-income countries host around 85 percent of the world’s refugees. As of June 2021, Turkey hosted the most refugees (3.7 million) followed by Jordan (3 million), Colombia (1.7 million), Uganda (1.5 million) and Pakistan (1.4 million).