UN: number of refugees and displaced persons surpasses 80 million during pandemic

Despite calls for a global ceasefire, violence and persecution on the rise. Unhcr: “another tragic milestone” passed which is destined to “increase”. The international community "has failed" in its task of "safeguarding peace". In the first half of the year, the number of vulnerable refugees resettled in third countries fell by half.

Beirut (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Despite repeated calls for a ceasefire and compassionate policies during the Covid-19 pandemic, violence and persecution have continued unabated and have contributed to the expulsion of many people from their homes.

This is revealed by the record number of refugees and displaced persons reported today by the United Nations, according to which "more than 80 million" will be displaced by the end of 2020.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated that at the end of last year the number of people displaced and expelled from their homes was 79.5 million, including 30 million refugees. According to preliminary estimates for the year that is about to end, the number has grown again, breaking through 80 million, well over 1% of the world population.

"We are now surpassing another bleak milestone that will continue to grow unless world leaders stop wars," UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi said in a statement. In March, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for a global ceasefire on pandemic conflicts, with a virus that has already killed over 1.5 million people worldwide.

This appeal fell on deaf ears, with the figures for the first half of 2020 which confirm new displaced persons in Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Somalia and Yemen. Brutal violence has also generated new refugees in the Sahel region of central Africa, victims of rape and brutal executions. "With forced displacement doubling in the last decade, the international community is failing to safeguard peace," Grandi said.

For the United Nations experts, the new coronavirus pandemic has "disrupted every aspect of human life and aggravated even more the already current challenges for the displaced and stateless". And some measures implemented by governments to contain infections have made the task of guaranteeing protection and safety to refugees even more difficult.

At the height of the first wave in April, at least 168 countries had completely or partially closed their borders; of these, up to 90 made no exceptions for asylum seekers. In 2020, new requests for hospitality decreased by a third compared to the same period of the previous year. At the same time, the number of vulnerable refugees resettled in third countries fell by half (only 17,400 in the first half of the year).

• Asia
• displaced persons
• refugees
• covid-19
• coronavirus
• human rights
• poverty
• pandemic
• humanitarian crisis