World political leaders “cannot or do not want to resolve conflicts” that have produced a record number of 100 million displaced people inside and outside their countries, highlighted today the UN High Commissioner for refugees, Filippo Grandi, who called for greater political will to achieve peace.

In a message on the occasion of World Refugee Day, Grandi indicated that the war in Ukraine has been added to the emergencies in Ethiopia, Burkina Faso, Burma (Myanmar), Nigeria, Afghanistan or the Democratic Republic of the Congo to exceed in 2022, for the first time, the 100 million displaced persons and refugees.

“The lack of solutions increases while the number of people who are forced to flee exceeds the number of people who can return,” said Grandi, who is visiting Côte d’Ivoire on the occasion of the world day.

The West African country, which in the last ten years has witnessed the return of 310,000 refugees (96% of the total), is an example that “leaders can work together to achieve peace and address the difficulties of the displaced “, stressed the head of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).

The agency’s annual report on displaced persons and refugees, published last week, indicated that in 2021 the group reached a record number of 89.3 million people, but in 2022 this group has already exceeded 100 million due to conflicts such as that of Ukraine.

Displaced persons and refugees increased in 2021 for the tenth consecutive year, and their total number is more than double that of a decade ago.

The largest groups of refugees (people who have fled to countries other than their own) were those from Syria (6.8 million), Venezuela (4.6 million) and Afghanistan (2.7 million), but now the 5.1 million Ukrainians.

In terms of destination countries, Turkey continues to host the most refugees (3.8 million, mostly from Syria), followed by Colombia (1.8 million, mainly Venezuelans), Uganda (1.5 million from of the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Pakistan (1.5 million Afghans).

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