China and Democratic Republic of Congo most affected by displacements in 2016

Over 31 million people - one person every second, every day of the year - were uprooted in their home country in 2016 because of conflicts and disasters.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo was the country with the worst toll, with a spike of 922 000 new displacements during the past year alone.

The report showed that 6.9 million people fled conflict or violence, while 24.2 million were forced to leave their homes by natural disasters.

Unlike refugees, who seek asylum in other countries, internally displaced people (IDPs) remain in their own country and can't claim global protection, IDMC says.

Next were Syria (824 000), Iraq (659 000), Afghanistan (653 000), Nigeria (501 000) and Yemen (478 000).

Almost 7 million people, mostly from sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, were displaced because of conflicts, according to data by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), which is part of aid agency Norwegian Refugee Council. "It is urgent to put internal displacement back on the global agenda".

South and South East Asia were the regions most affected by natural disasters. with over seven million internally displaced in China and nearly six million in the Philippines.

These displacements are expected to increase in the future as the impact of climate change becomes more acute, said the report.

"Despite internal displacement being the starting point of many onward journeys, it has been overshadowed by the current global focus on refugees and migrants", said Alexandra Bilak, IDMC director. "We need to acknowledge that, without the right kind of support and protection, a person internally displaced today may become a refugee, an asylum seeker or an worldwide migrant tomorrow", said Bilak.

The number will grow unless the underlying causes such as political turmoil and climate change are tackled, an worldwide aid group said on Monday.

The report said, however, more aid was spent past year on refugee resettlement than in the countries where the crises originated.

"People who are displaced over long periods of time and facing huge threats to their daily safety and security will ultimately have to seek protection elsewhere if they're not getting it in their country", she said.

SOURCE: AFPC

 

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