In the first half of the year, the wars and conflicts in Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar and the Democratic Republic of Congo in particular drove people to leave their homes. The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and the situation in Somalia, which is characterized by drought, floods and insecurity, have also caused many people to flee.
Since the major attack on Israel by the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas and the subsequent Israeli air strikes, the number of internally displaced people in the Gaza Strip has risen to 1.4 million people – out of a population of 2.4 million – according to UN figures.
More than half of the people forced to leave their homes never cross a national border, the UNHCR said. These are then considered internal refugees. Around a third of all refugees currently come from just three countries: Afghanistan, Syria and Ukraine.