KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reports that over 117 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide, with Afghanistan, at 10.9 million, ranking among the countries with the highest numbers of displaced people.
In a report released today, June 13, UNHCR revealed the global trend of forced displacement in 2023, estimating that it has continued to rise in the first four months of 2024 and is likely to have surpassed 120 million by the end of April 2024.
“The increase to 117.3 at the end of 2023 constitutes a rise of 8 per cent or 8.8 million people compared to the end of 2022 and continues a series of year-on-year increases over the last 12 years,” the UN refugee agency said.
The report quoted Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, saying, “Behind these stark and rising numbers lie countless human tragedies. That suffering must galvanize the international community to act urgently to tackle the root causes of forced displacement.”
Afghanistan has been struggling with a severe humanitarian crisis for years. Even before the Taliban’s takeover, conflict, natural disasters, chronic poverty, and food insecurity exacerbated instability and violence. The recent political changes have further intensified human suffering and displacement in the country.
In February, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that Afghanistan has the largest number of internally displaced people in South Asia and the second highest worldwide.
According to the UNHCR report, the largest proportion of refugees globally comes from Afghanistan and Syria, each with 6.4 million refugees. Together, they account for one-third of all refugees under UNHCR’s mandate.
“In 2023, the number of Afghan refugees reported globally increased by 741,400 to reach 6.4 million, mostly reflecting new population estimates reported by both the Islamic Republic of Iran and Pakistan,” the report said.
Over the past four decades, millions of Afghans have fled the conflict, poverty, and instability in their country, primarily relocating to neighboring Iran and Pakistan. According to the UN, there are currently 3.7 million Afghan refugees in Pakistan alone, with over 600,000 seeking refuge in the country following the Taliban’s takeover in August 2021.
Recent enforcement of anti-migrant policies and ongoing crackdowns on undocumented Afghan refugees in Iran and Pakistan have led to the deportation of over 1.5 million Afghan refugees. This exacerbates their suffering upon returning to Taliban-controlled and impoverished Afghanistan.
UNHCR reports a significant increase in the number of Afghans returning from Pakistan in 2023, including through deportation, largely attributed to the country’s implementation of the illegal foreigners’ repatriation plan initiated in October 2023.
The report indicates that the US resettled the highest number of refugees in 2023, totaling 75,100. The majority of these refugees came from Congo (22,100), followed by Syria (14,700), Afghanistan (8,600), and Myanmar (6,600).
“Canada resettled nearly 51,100 refugees, primarily from Afghanistan (16,600), Eritrea (9,200), Syria (8,400) and Somalia (4,300). Germany welcomed 4,500 refugees, 3,300 of whom were from Syria,” said the UNHCR report.
