Migration Group Says 76 Million Displaced in 2023
2024-05-16
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1Conflicts and natural disasters caused nearly 76 million people to be displaced within their countries a migration research group says.
2The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) said violence in Sudan, Congo and the Middle East is driving two-thirds of new displacement.
3The Geneva-based IDMC released its report on May 14.
4It found that the number of internally displaced people has increased 50 percent over the past five years.
5The number does not cover refugees: displaced people who flee to another country.
6The report deals with two major sets of information.
7It counted 46.9 million physical movements of people in 2023.
8Sometimes the people moved more than once.
9In most of those cases, the displaced people are expected to return.
10They are forced from their homes because of natural disasters like floods.
11The group also follows the number of people who were living away from their homes in 2023.
12Those include people still displaced from earlier years.
13That total is 75.9 million people at the end of last year.
14Half of those people were in countries south of the Sahara Desert in Africa.
15Jan Egeland is secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, which runs the research organization.
16He said the findings of the latest report are that the world is in a deep crisis.
17He said, "We have never, ever recorded worse figures for internal displacement by violence, by conflict, by persecution."
18Almost 90 percent of the total displacement was linked to conflict.
19About 10 percent was tied to the effects of natural disasters.
20The displacement of more than 9 million people in Sudan at the end of 2023 was a record for a single country since the center started collecting information 16 years ago.
21Sudan's conflict began in April 2023 as increasing tensions between the military and the Rapid Support Forces broke out into open fighting.
22The group also reported on movements in Gaza.
23It said there were a total of 3.4 million movements in Gaza in the last three months of 2023.
24The activity followed the Israeli military reaction to the October 7 attacks on Israel by Gaza's Hamas rulers.
25Many people moved more than once within the territory, and all of the movements were counted.
26There are about 2.2 million people in Gaza.
27At the end of the year, 1.7 million people were displaced in Gaza.
28Director Alexandra Bilak said the millions of people forced to flee in 2023 was the "tip of the iceberg."
29She said there are tens of millions of displaced people from other conflicts, violence and disasters.
30Supporters say the report's figures show the effects of conflict, climate change and other factors on human movements.
31The United Nations refugee agency follows data on displacement across borders but not within countries.
32And the U.N. migration agency follows all movements of people, including for economic or lifestyle reasons.
33I'm Gregory Stachel.
1Conflicts and natural disasters caused nearly 76 million people to be displaced within their countries a migration research group says. 2The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC) said violence in Sudan, Congo and the Middle East is driving two-thirds of new displacement. 3The Geneva-based IDMC released its report on May 14. It found that the number of internally displaced people has increased 50 percent over the past five years. The number does not cover refugees: displaced people who flee to another country. 4The report deals with two major sets of information. It counted 46.9 million physical movements of people in 2023. Sometimes the people moved more than once. In most of those cases, the displaced people are expected to return. They are forced from their homes because of natural disasters like floods. 5The group also follows the number of people who were living away from their homes in 2023. Those include people still displaced from earlier years. That total is 75.9 million people at the end of last year. Half of those people were in countries south of the Sahara Desert in Africa. 6Jan Egeland is secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, which runs the research organization. He said the findings of the latest report are that the world is in a deep crisis. He said, "We have never, ever recorded worse figures for internal displacement by violence, by conflict, by persecution." 7Almost 90 percent of the total displacement was linked to conflict. About 10 percent was tied to the effects of natural disasters. 8The displacement of more than 9 million people in Sudan at the end of 2023 was a record for a single country since the center started collecting information 16 years ago. Sudan's conflict began in April 2023 as increasing tensions between the military and the Rapid Support Forces broke out into open fighting. 9The group also reported on movements in Gaza. It said there were a total of 3.4 million movements in Gaza in the last three months of 2023. The activity followed the Israeli military reaction to the October 7 attacks on Israel by Gaza's Hamas rulers. Many people moved more than once within the territory, and all of the movements were counted. There are about 2.2 million people in Gaza. At the end of the year, 1.7 million people were displaced in Gaza. 10Director Alexandra Bilak said the millions of people forced to flee in 2023 was the "tip of the iceberg." She said there are tens of millions of displaced people from other conflicts, violence and disasters. 11Supporters say the report's figures show the effects of conflict, climate change and other factors on human movements. The United Nations refugee agency follows data on displacement across borders but not within countries. And the U.N. migration agency follows all movements of people, including for economic or lifestyle reasons. 12I'm Gregory Stachel. 13Jamey Keaten reported this story for The Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English. 14______________________________________________ 15Words in This Story 16figures - n. (pl.) numbers 17persecution - v. to treat (someone) cruelly or unfairly especially because of race or religious or political beliefs 18tip of the iceberg - idiom evidence of a problem that seems small but hides a much larger problem that is not known and is a big threat 19factor - n. something that helps produce or influence a result: one of the things that cause something to happen