Beautiful Virgin Islands

Saturday, Aug 22, 2026

100 million people around the world have been forced to flee their homes. That's more than the population of most countries

100 million people around the world have been forced to flee their homes. That's more than the population of most countries

War, violence, persecution and human rights abuses have pushed the world past a "dramatic milestone," according to a new report from the UN's refugee agency.

More than 100 million people have been forced to flee their homes, according to the UNHCR's Global Trends Report, which describes that figure as a record high.

"Either the international community comes together to take action to address this human tragedy, resolve conflicts and find lasting solutions, or this terrible trend will continue," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a statement.

The UN agency first announced the record-setting figure in May. At the time, Grandi described it as "sobering and alarming." Thursday's report explores the trends behind it in greater detail.

"With millions of Ukrainians displaced at the time of writing, as well as further displacement elsewhere this year, notably in Burkina Faso and Myanmar, total forced displacement now exceeds 100 million people," the report says.

"This means 1 in every 78 people on earth has been forced to flee -- a dramatic milestone that few would have expected a decade ago."

UNHCR says the latest forced displacement figure includes 60.1 million internally displaced people, 32.1 million refugees, 4.5 million asylum seekers and 4.4 million Venezuelans displaced abroad. That adds up to a number that's larger than the population of most countries.

David Miliband, president and CEO of the International Rescue Committee, described the 100 million figure as an "appalling mark" that shows "global failure." It "will be the prelude to higher and higher numbers without urgent action," he warned, calling for increasing refugee resettlement commitments and boosting humanitarian aid to crisis zones.

Millions of Ukrainians have been forced to flee


The UN report released Thursday largely focuses on 2021, noting that year was "perhaps most notable for the sheer number of existing conflicts that escalated and new conflicts that flared up." But its authors note that developments in early 2022 were impossible to ignore.

More than 7 million Ukrainians were displaced within the country due to war, and more than 6 million refugees have fled Ukraine, the report says.

"It is one of the largest forced displacement crises since World War II, and certainly the fastest," the report says.

Turkey hosted the largest refugee population in 2021


In 2021, the report says, Turkey hosted the world's largest refugee population, nearly 3.8 million people.

Children stand in a refugee camp along the Thai-Myanmar border.


And the report says more than two thirds of the number of refugees and Venezuelans displaced abroad came from just five countries: Syria (6.8 million), Venezuela (4.6 million), Afghanistan (2.7 million), South Sudan (2.4 million) and Myanmar (1.2 million).

The number of displaced people worldwide has increased every year over the past decade and stands at the highest level since recordkeeping began, the report says.

The report's release comes just days before World Refugee Day on Monday, when organizations work to raise awareness about the plight of refugees.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Bitcoin Surges Toward $80,000 as Short Squeeze and ETF Inflows Ignite Crypto Rally
Twenty-Nine US States Take Meta to Trial Over Alleged Child Addiction on Instagram and Facebook
Former Scottish National Party Executive Peter Murrell Jailed for Five Years Over £400,000 Embezzlement
Moderna and Merck's Personalized Cancer Vaccine Succeeds in Historic Late-Stage Melanoma Trial
Prince Harry and Meghan to Move Back to Britain With Their Children
England and Wales Have Fewer Than 1,800 Prison Places Left for Men
Suspected People Smuggler Arrested After Investigation Identified Him
Children's Doctors Warn That Vaping Can Lead Young People to Smoking
Hundreds of Thousands of Students Receive GCSE and Vocational Results Across England, Wales and Northern Ireland
Here Is What Can Never Happen in Your Country: Taiwan Is Giving Money to All Its People Because It Collected Too Much Tax
UK Inflation Rises to 2.9% as Energy Bills Jump
UK Issues New Conduct Guide for Asylum Seekers on Consent and Respect
A Sleepless Night on Wall Street: Nasdaq to Begin Nearly Round-the-Clock Trading
"The First in the World": 69-Year-Old Protested Artificial Intelligence—and Went to Jail
Ukraine's Ousted Defence Minister Calls for Wartime Presidential Election
China’s Lifelike AI Humans Move From Livestreams Into Real-World Service Roles
Sarah Ferguson Reportedly Retreats to Late Ex-Boyfriend's Swiss Chalet
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez Sign Prenup Protecting Their Separate Fortunes
Thieves Steal Antonello da Messina Renaissance Masterpieces From Sicilian Museum
Better.com Founder Who Fired 900 Employees on Zoom Is Ousted as CEO
Italian Speed Camera Issues Nearly 32,000 Fines in 10 Weeks, Worth More Than €3 Million
AI Manager at San Francisco Store Recommends Firing Human Employee
Google Launches Pixel 11 With Gemini AI at the Center of Its Hardware Strategy
Reform UK Unveils Plan to Cut Welfare Spending by More Than £50 Billion a Year
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Praised Extinction Rebellion for Doing a 'Great Service'
UK Wildfire Phone Alert Triggers Backlash as Users Switch Off Emergency Warnings
Heathrow Roads Reopen After Burst Water Main Floods Access to Terminals 2 and 3
Former NBA Players Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White Say They Will Enter 2027 WNBA Draft
Former Cambridge Professor Jason Arday Found Dead Days After Resigning Amid Plagiarism Row
US Appeals Court Rules AI Agent's Website Actions Are Legally Attributed to the User
France's Constitutional Council Blocks Social Media Ban for Children Under 15
Liechtenstein Changes Royal Succession Rules to Allow Women to Inherit the Throne
Women Allege Rape and Sexual Abuse at British Army College for Teenage Recruits
Minnesota: Two independent investigators posed as Muslims (one wearing a burqa) and showed how they could vote in elections without identification.
China’s Kimi Launches AI-Focused Credit Card With Agricultural Bank of China and American Express
Former Labour Adviser Arrested on Suspicion of Spying for China Held Privileged Access as Top Party Donor
Turkish Parliament Passes Landmark Bill Granting Conditional Amnesty to Disarmed PKK Members
Donald Trump Warns FIFA Against Ousting Gianni Infantino Amid Revolt by Global Football Leaders
Jeff Bezos Joins Investor Group Closing In on $6 Billion Liverpool FC Stake
UK Councils to Receive Sweeping Planning Powers to Ban New Vape and Betting Shops
Russia’s A7 Builds a State-Linked Payments Network Beyond Western Sanctions
Hyper-Realistic Reborn Dolls Draw Collectors Seeking Comfort and Craft
Gen Z Cuts Back on Dating as a Night Out Nears $200
Patients Turn to Artificial Intelligence for Therapy as Psychiatrists Warn of Privacy and Clinical Risks
Couples Embrace ‘Sleep Divorce’ to Protect Rest and Reduce Tension
Meta Ordered to Pay $567 Million and Change Facebook and Instagram Safeguards for Children
Up to only 10 Months in Prison for Swedish Officer’s Murderer Sparks Anger
Success: Nvidia Turned Gaming Chips Into the Engine of the AI Boom
Jorge Messi, Lionel Messi’s Father and Longtime Agent, Dies at 68
AI’s Next Bottleneck Is Power, Not Just Nvidia Chips
×