World Refugee Day. Record 65.6 million people were forcibly displaced from their homes in 2016

A record 65.6 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced from their homes due armed conflicts, persecution and famine by the end of 2016, according to the latest report released by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) ahead of World Refugee Day. The figure marks an increase of more than 300,000 people since the end of 2015.

June 20 is the day when the international community shows support and solidarity t for the courage and perseverance of millions of refugees forced to flee their homes.

This is “the highest figure since we started recording these figures”, explained the UNHCR chief, Filippo Grandi.

“By any measure, this is an unacceptable number, and it speaks louder than ever to the need for solidarity and common purpose in preventing and resolving crises,” he said.

Just over one-third of them (22.5 million) are refugees, people forced to flee their countries because of persecution, war, or violence. 40.3 million internally displaced people around the world, down slightly from 40.8 million a year earlier.

“This equates to one person becoming displaced every three seconds – less than the time it takes to read this sentence,” UNHCR pointed out in a statement.

Half of the world’s refugees are children

22.5 million people, with children being disproportionately affected. Half of the world’s refugees are children, the UNHCR report showed, pointing out that this is “the highest level ever recorded”.

In 2015 and 2016, around 30 % of the refugees were under the age of 18, and children are particularly vulnerable to physical and psychological violence, especially because many of them are travelling alone, according to a European Commission report.

Moreover, Europol has confirmed that at least 10 000 unaccompanied minors went missing in 2015 after arriving in Europe. These children are at high risk of falling victim to violence, trafficking and exploitation on their migratory journeys. Research suggests that up to 50% of the

unaccompanied children accommodated go missing from certain reception centres in the EU, and in many cases, information about the child’s whereabouts remains unknown.

One person flees every three seconds

War is a major contributing factor. More than half of refugees come the countries affected by military conflicts: Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia. Large-scale displacement of the population has also been registered in Afghanistan and Columbia.

Conflicts have displaced 12 million Syrians, 7.7 million Colombians, 4.7 million Afghans and 4.2 million Iraqis, according to the report.

Syria continues to have the largest figures with a record 12 million people being forcibly displaced at the end of 2016.

Syria‘s six-year conflict alone has sent more than 5.5 million people seeking safety in other countries, including 825,000 last year alone, accounting for the world’s largest group of refugees.

The situation is incredibly worrisome giving that 6.3 million Syrians are displaced inside the country, which means that nearly two-thirds of all Syrians have been forced to flee their homes.

The report also raised the alarm over the increasingly deteriorating situation in South Sudan, with UN refugee chief stating this was currently the world’s “fastest growing refugee crisis and displacement crisis”.

The civil war that has been going on since December 2013, has forced a total of 3.7 million people from their homes, that is nearly a third of the population. In addition, the refugee population of South Sudan reached to 1.4 million in 2016, states the UNHCR report.

Famine and persecution are also two of the main driving factors behind the record number of displaced population. Somalia, Yemen, South Sudan and northeast Nigeria are the countries most affected by famine and disease.

“We stand at a critical point in history. Already at the beginning of the year, we are facing the largest humanitarian crisis since the creation of the UN,” UN humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien warned.

“Now, more than 20 million people across four countries face starvation and famine. Without collective and coordinated global efforts, people will simply starve to death. Many more will suffer and die from disease.”

Seeking refuge in low and middle-income countries

About 84 percent of the people were in low- or middle-income countries as of end 2016. Of that figure, one in every three people, roughly 4.9 million people, were hosted by the least developed countries.

“This huge imbalance reflects several things including the continuing lack of consensus internationally when it comes to refugee hosting and the proximity of many poor countries to regions of conflict,” the UN agency said.

The UN report showed that, despite the huge focus on Europe’s refugee crisis, it is the poorer countries that host most of the world’s refugees.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said it is “so inspiring to see countries with the least doing the most for refugees ” but said that a change is needed.

“It’s time to change this trajectory. And for the better,” he stated, noting that in countless communities, including in the poorest countries that host the vast majority of the world’s refugees.

For the third consecutive year, Turkey hosted the largest number of refugees worldwide, with 2.9 million people.It was followed by Pakistan (1.4 million), Lebanon (1 million), Iran (979,400), Uganda (940,800), and Ethiopia (791,600).

Asylum seekers in the European Union

Regarding first-time asylum seekers, 165,000 refugees applied for international protection in the European Union (EU) in the first quarter of 2017, a lower figure by 20% than the same period in 2016 when 207,000 first time applicant were registered. In the first quarter 2017, there were in total 322 first time asylum applicants per million inhabitants in the EU as a whole.

Given the violent conflicts in their home countries, Syrians are the main people seeking international protection in the EU with over 22 500 applications, followed by Afghans (12 500 first time applicants), Nigerians (11 500) and Iraqis (10 500).

Over half of the first time applicants applied for asylum in Germany with almost 49 100 first time applicants, or 30% of total first-time applicants in the EU Member States) and Italy (36 900, or 22%), followed by France (22 000, or 13%) and Greece (16 500, or 10%), according to Eurostat.

Compared with the population of each EU Member State, the highest rate of registered first-time applicants during the first quarter 2017 was recorded in Greece (1,534 first time applicants per million inhabitants), followed by Cyprus (1,308), Luxembourg (1,175) and Malta (884). In

contrast, the lowest rates were observed in Slovakia (11 applicants per million inhabitants), Portugal (24), Poland (25) and the Czech Republic (28).

However, at the end of March 2017, nearly a million applications for asylum protection in the EU were still under consideration.