Out of every 88 people in the world, at least 1 lived far from home last year because they were forced to migrate due to conflict situations or human rights violations, according to a report by UNHCR, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, released this Wednesday. fair (15). In all, 2021 saw 89.3 million forcibly displaced people.
The figure is more than double what was observed a decade ago. By way of comparison, it is as if the entire population of Southeast Brazil had to migrate to another region or change country to escape conflicts in their territory.
The number tends to only grow with the scenario of multiplication of global conflicts, highlights the material. Last month, shortly before the release of the report with data for 2021, the body announced that factors such as the Ukrainian War had already pushed the number of displaced people to exceed 100 million this year.
“The cause is a certain inability of the international community to prevent and resolve conflicts,” says Luiz Fernando Godinho, spokesman for UNHCR in Brazil. “Humanitarian crises are political issues and can only be resolved with political will; the humanitarian response is only a palliative.”
If lasting peace were restored in a few key locations, UNHCR estimates that the number of refugees could be reduced to around 10 million, a figure recorded ten years ago. Today, however, that number exceeds 27 million. The next Monday (20) is World Refugee Day.
The volume of forced displacements also includes those who had to move within their country – which total 53.2 million, according to the recent report –, in addition to asylum seekers (4.6 million) and the mass of 4.4 million Venezuelans displaced. abroad (counted separately for not having officially requested refugee status, but being considered by the UN to be in the same need for protection as the others).
Over the past year, at least 1.7 million people have crossed international borders in search of protection, and at least another 14.4 million have moved within their territories for a similar reason. Syrians, victims of a civil war that has lasted 11 years, remain the main nationality among refugees, with 6.8 million. Most (3.7 million) are in neighboring Turkey, which has thus become the country with the most refugees.
Also noteworthy is the situation in Afghanistan and Myanmar. In the Central Asian country, where the Taliban fundamentalist group regained power in August, more than 900,000 have moved within the territory or to neighboring countries to flee the conflict during 2021. The country leads in the number of citizens who have applied for asylum elsewhere. .
Already in the Southeast Asian nation, which witnessed a military coup early last year, more than 400,000 people were forced to leave their homes and move to another part of the territory. The nationality is the fifth with the highest number of refugees — at least 1.2 million.
Brazil is mentioned in the document as one of the countries where there was a significant decrease in individual asylum applications, although, in all, the global figure has increased: 1.7 million, an increase compared to 2020 (1.3 million) , height of the Covid pandemic.
Godinho explains that, in addition to the reduction in the flow of refugees from Venezuela due to sanitary restrictions to contain the spread of the coronavirus, one of the possible reasons for the drop is what he describes as the effort, in 2020, to analyze requests for recognition of the refugee situation of those who left the neighboring country.
The material also highlights the weight of the climate emergency in this crisis. Although it does not work under the name “climate refugee”, UNHCR stresses that extreme events affect the lives of those who are already displaced and can act as a catalyst for displacement.
Although it compiles data from 2021, the report also lays the groundwork for what we expect to see in the next edition, which will take into account the year that saw the Ukrainian War break out. And the alarming scenario of more than 100 million means that 1 in 78 people are displaced on the planet.
The UN High Commissioner draws attention to the good response of the international community in welcoming Ukrainian refugees, but also highlights the differences with which people from other countries on the continent were treated. “Many of the refugees who were already displaced at the end of 2021 faced far more dire conditions,” the text reads.
The situation also teaches Brazil, says Godinho to Sheet. “This showed not only the importance of countries being willing to keep their borders open, but that the response goes beyond the public authorities. Of course, the State’s capacity is much greater, but the community’s response is very important, and we have seen many demonstrations of citizen engagement.”
