New figures have shown that last year war and natural disaster led to a record 83.4 million internally displaced people (IDPs) worldwide, equivalent to the entire population of Germany. Around 73.5 million people were forced to move because of conflict, a 10 per cent increase on 2023, and 9.8 million, because of “natural” disasters, 29 per cent up. Internally displaced people stay in their own country, in contrast to refugees who move elsewhere.
The figures are more than double the level of just six years ago, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) say in their annual joint report on internal displacement, testimony to an accelerating deterioration worldwide.
The recent rise in conflicts, particularly in Sudan, the Republic of the Congo, Lebanon, Ukraine and Palestine, has displaced millions, adding to the tens of millions already living in protracted displacement in countries such as Afghanistan, Colombia, Syria and Yemen.
More than 5 million conflict displacements occurred last year in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the most of any country. In Gaza, some 90 per cent of the 2.4 million population have been forced to move by Israeli attacks, with “some displaced 10 times or more,” UN relief agency UNRWA reports. Civil war-ravaged Sudan alone is home to a staggering 11.6 million IDPs, the most ever recorded in a single country.
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So-called “natural” disasters and conflict-related disasters both reflect a terrible failure by humanity to manage its own affairs. Much of the aggravated weather causing “natural disasters” is attributable to man-made global warming – some 11 million US residents had to relocate, for example, because of hurricanes, floods and wildfires.
The number of countries reporting both conflict and disaster displacement has tripled in 15 years, with more than three-quarters of people internally displaced by conflict living in countries that are very vulnerable to climate change. People in large parts on the planet, in other words, are terribly exposed.
