HUMAN WRONGS WATCH

Human Wrongs Watch

Geneva, 18 June 2015 (UNHCR)* – Wars, conflict and persecution have forced more people than at any other time since records began to flee their homes and seek refuge and safety elsewhere, according to a new report from the UN refugee agency. “Most alarmingly, however, it showed that over half the world’s refugees are children.”

**© UNHCR | Global Trends 2014

UNHCR’s annual Global Trends Report: World at War, released on Thursday (18 June), said that worldwide displacement was at the highest level ever recorded. It said the number of people forcibly displaced at the end of 2014 had risen to a staggering 59.5 million compared to 51.2 million a year earlier and 37.5 million a decade ago.* The increase represents the biggest leap ever seen in a single year. Moreover, the report said the situation was likely to worsen still further.

According to data gathered by Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) over the course of 2014, the number of people forcibly displaced during the reporting year swelled to a staggering 59.5 million people compared to the 51.2 million from the previous year.