Twenty-four people were forced to flee their homes every minute in 2015, helping maintain record levels of global displacement due in part to the ongoing Syrian war and exodus across the Mediterranean.
The figures are contained in the latest UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) report published today showing global levels of displacement – including those moving within their own country – reached 65.3 million last year, an increase of 75 per cent on 1996 rates.
"If they were a country, the forcibly displaced would be the 21st largest in the world," the 2015 Global Trends report says.
“At the end of 2015 about half of [that year’s] refugees were children, requiring focused efforts to address their needs and minimise the impact of forced displacement.”
There was a threefold increase in the number of unaccompanied or separated children applying for asylum, reaching 98,400 last year.
The report puts the global number of refugees by the end of 2015 at 21.3 million (16.1 under the mandate of the UNHCR), the highest level in the past two decades.
Ireland
Ireland is listed as having 6,125 refugees, including “people in refugee-like situations”. Of those, 5,055 were categorised as pending asylum cases.
On the European continent, 19 countries were listed as having fewer refugees than Ireland, including Spain, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Luxembourg and Hungary.
Globally the UNHCR notes that while rates of displacement slowed on 2014, the current level remains the highest since the aftermath of the second World War.
A new record was established in 2011 when the number forced from their homes reached 42.5 million. That figure continued to rise sharply in subsequent years as a consequence of various conflicts.
As a snapshot, 2015 saw the displacement of 12.4 million people, 8.6 million of whom sought shelter within their own country and 1.8 million abroad. It is those moving between borders that have prompted international debate in recent years, particularly in Europe.
“The conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic, which entered its fifth year in 2015, garnered significant worldwide attention because of the large refugee flows and humanitarian needs it generated,” the report says.
“Yet other unresolved crises and conflicts, as well as new ones that arose during the year, also contributed to the increase in global forced displacement.”
By the end of 2015, about 11.7 million Syrians were displaced (including 6.6 million internally) but of possibly less international focus were other “large displaced populations” from new or reignited conflicts in Afghanistan, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Yemen.
“On average 24 individuals worldwide were newly displaced every minute during 2015. This compares to 30 people per minute a year ago,” the report said. During the second half of last year, it notes, there was a “dramatic increase” in the number of people arriving in Europe by boat.
“Hundreds of thousands of individuals embarked on a dangerous journey, crossing the Mediterranean Sea to reach Europe in an effort to find safety.
“Overall, more than 1 million people arrived by sea in 2015, a more than fourfold increase compared to the previous year’s 216,000 arrivals. This rise was due mostly to increased movement across the eastern Mediterranean to Greece.”
The majority (850,000) crossed the Aegean Sea from Turkey, a quarter of those being children. About 3,770 people died or were reported missing in the Mediterranean.
Solidarity
“The refugee emergency in Europe tested asylum and reception systems in 2015 and illustrated the imperative of a comprehensive response, based on solidarity and responsibility sharing,” the UNHCR said.
“Existing frameworks were in many instances unable to facilitate the management of the crisis or preserve the protection space in a sustainable manner.”
It noted that many countries imposed restrictions on access, border controls and the erection of fences.
The mass migration led to 2 million asylum applications in 38 European countries during the course of the year, almost tripling the rate of 2014 and with Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq accounting for the majority. Within the EU, Sweden and Germany received 50 per cent of applicants.
“In Sweden, 35,800 unaccompanied or separated children applied for asylum in 2015,” the report said, representing more than a fivefold increase on the previous year.
Among all asylum applications generally from unaccompanied children, Afghan minors were the largest group with 50,300 registered applications, compared to 8,600 in 2014. Of those, 14,400 were under the age of 15.
The UNHCR has said it has developed multiyear, multipartner strategies to achieve long-term sustainable solutions to the refugee problem, but says they require “collective commitment”.
