What is behind the biggest surge in internal displacement ever recorded?

climate-related disasters in different parts of the world, continue to drive millions from their homes. (Reuters)
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Updated 23 June 2025
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What is behind the biggest surge in internal displacement ever recorded?

  • Aid agencies have recorded an unprecedented rise in displacement within countries across every global region
  • More than 83 million people were internally displaced by the end of 2024 — the highest figure ever documented

DUBAI: The world is witnessing a historic surge in displacement — not across borders, but within them. Ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Sudan, coupled with the escalating frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters, continue to drive millions from their homes.

By the end of 2024, more than 83.4 million people in the world were internally displaced — the highest number yet recorded.

According to the 2025 Global Report on Internal Displacement, that figure has nearly doubled in just six years — the equivalent of displacing the entire population of Germany.

More broadly, the latest figures from UNHCR’s Global Trends Report 2025 show that the total number of forcibly displaced people worldwide — including refugees, asylum seekers, and those internally displaced — had reached 122.1 million by the end of April 2025, up from 120 million the year before.

“We are living in a time of intense volatility in international relations, with modern warfare creating a fragile, harrowing landscape marked by acute human suffering,” said Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, responding to the figures.

“We must redouble our efforts to search for peace and find long-lasting solutions for refugees and others forced to flee their homes.”

While Grandi highlighted the urgent need for global solutions, experts tracking internal displacement say the crisis is becoming increasingly entrenched within national borders.

“Internal displacement is where conflict, poverty, and climate collide, hitting the most vulnerable the hardest,” Alexandra Bilak, director of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Center, said in a statement.

The latest figures reveal internal displacement is no longer just a humanitarian issue, she said, but a complex political and development challenge that continues to be overlooked.

“The data is clear — it’s now time to use it to prevent displacement, support recovery, and build resilience,” Bilak said.

The global surge in internal displacement was felt across every region in 2024, according to the Global Report on Internal Displacement.

An internally displaced person is someone forced to flee their home to escape conflict, persecution, or disaster. But unlike refugees, they remain within their country’s borders. 

Sub-Saharan Africa is the epicenter of this global surge, home to 38.8 million internally displaced persons — making up almost 46 percent of the global total. 

All 23 countries in the region that experienced conflict-related displacement also suffered from disaster-induced movements, compounding already dire humanitarian needs.

In the Middle East and North Africa, conflict-related displacement also surged — particularly in the Gaza Strip, where conflict has raged since October 2023. About 2 million Palestinians were forced from their homes, according to the Global Report on Internal Displacement.

The Americas likewise showed a dramatic increase, with 14.5 million people forced to flee within their national boundaries. The US alone accounted for 11 million disaster-related movements — nearly a quarter of the global total for such events.

In South Asia, disaster displacement nearly tripled, to 9.2 million, the region’s second-highest figure in more than a decade.

Conflict was the primary driver of internal displacement in 2024. In Sudan, the situation has deteriorated dramatically since fighting erupted there in April 2023.

“It has become the largest and most devastating displacement, humanitarian and protection crisis in the world today,” Tarik Argaz, a UNHCR representative, told Arab News.

As of mid-2024, more than 12.4 million people had been displaced in Sudan — including 8.1 million internally and more than 4 million who had fled to neighboring countries. These figures are based on UNHCR’s operational data collected during the continuing crisis.

By April 2025, the scale of displacement had grown further. According to UNHCR’s Global Trends Report, Sudan now represents the largest forced displacement crisis in the world, with a combined total of 14.3 million displaced people — including refugees and internally displaced people.




People who fled the Zamzam camp for the internally displaced after it fell under RSF control, rest in a makeshift encampment in an open field near the town of Tawila in war-torn Sudan's western Darfur region on April 13, 2025. (AFP)

“Security remains the major challenge in many regions of Sudan,” Argaz said. “Access to different areas continues to change due to the dynamic nature of the conflict.”

Disasters also triggered a record 45.8 million new internal displacements — the highest since 2008. An overwhelming 99.5 percent of these were caused by climate-related events, particularly storms and floods.

Argaz said climate change and displacement are becoming increasingly interconnected.

“Adverse effects of climate change and disasters have contributed to increased forced displacement over past decades,” he said.

“As extreme weather events and environmental conditions worsen with global heating, they are contributing to multiple and overlapping crises, increasing poverty and loss of livelihoods.

“The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre estimates that over 25 million people are forced to move due to disaster-related causes each year.

“The majority of people forcibly displaced by persecution, conflict and violence today live in countries that are highly vulnerable and ill-prepared to adapt to climate change.”

INNUMBERS

• 83.4 million By the end of 2024, more than 83.4 million people in the world were internally displaced — the highest number yet recorded.

• 9.2 million In South Asia, disaster displacement nearly tripled, to 9.2 million, the region’s second-highest figure in more than a decade.

Despite ongoing challenges, UNHCR continues to provide lifesaving support — including shelter, healthcare, psychosocial services, and cash assistance — while also working with regional partners to coordinate a broader response to displacement.

In a rare sign of progress, 9.8 million forcibly displaced people returned home in 2024, including 1.6 million refugees — the most in more than two decades — and 8.2 million internally displaced persons — the second highest yet recorded.

However, many of these returns occurred under difficult political and security conditions.

A large number of Afghans, for example, were forced to return to Afghanistan in 2024, often arriving in dire circumstances. In countries such as Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, and South Sudan, new displacements unfolded even as others returned.

“Even amid the devastating cuts, we have seen some rays of hope over the last six months,” said UN High Commissioner Grandi, referring to the recent reduction in aid funding by the US and other major Western donors.

“Nearly 2 million Syrians have been able to return home after over a decade uprooted. The country remains fragile and people need our help to rebuild their lives again.”




Congolese refugees displaced by ongoing clashes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo carry their belongings as they disembark from a truck upon arrival at the Gihanga refugee transit camp in Gihanga on February 17, 2025.

Internally displaced persons should be afforded the same rights and freedoms as all other citizens and habitual residents of their country, Argaz said.

“Our advocacy efforts have been instrumental in supporting the protection of internally displaced persons on various fronts — from access to documentation, education, healthcare, and livelihoods, to promoting economic inclusion and the peaceful resolution of conflicts, which are often the root cause of displacement,” he said.

Internally displaced persons often face a range of protection challenges that vary depending on the context.

These typically include limited access to basic necessities such as shelter, food, water, and healthcare — particularly during emergencies and in protracted displacement situations.

Many are also vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, including gender-based violence.

Long-term solutions such as return or local integration are still out of reach for millions.

“The cost of inaction is rising,” Bilak said. “And displaced people are paying the price.”

 


Lula says BRICS do not want ‘emperor’ after Trump threat

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Lula says BRICS do not want ‘emperor’ after Trump threat

  • Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva: ‘We are sovereign nations. We don’t want an emperor’

RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil’s president said Monday that emerging BRICS economies did not want to live under an “emperor,” after Donald Trump declared a 10 percent tariffs hike on members for their allegedly anti-American policies.
“We are sovereign nations,” Lula said as he ended a two day summit of 11 nations that include US allies and foes alike. “We don’t want an emperor.”


Rubio to make first visit to Indo-Pacific region for ASEAN meeting

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. (Reuters)
Updated 07 July 2025
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Rubio to make first visit to Indo-Pacific region for ASEAN meeting

  • Rubio will seek to firm up US relationships with partners and allies in the region, who have been unnerved by Trump’s global tariff offensive

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Malaysia later this week to attend a meeting of Southeast Asian Nations in his first visit to the Indo-Pacific region as America’s top diplomat, the State Department said in a statement.

Rubio will travel July 8-12 and will take part in meetings in Kuala Lumpur with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, whose ministers are gathering there, the State Department said.
Rubio will seek to firm up US relationships with partners and allies in the region, who have been unnerved by President Donald Trump’s global tariff offensive.
The trip is part of a renewed US focus on the Indo-Pacific and represents an effort by the Trump administration to look beyond the conflicts in the Middle East and Europe that have so far consumed much of its attention.
Last week, Rubio hosted counterparts from Australia, India and Japan and announced a joint initiative to ensure supply of critical minerals, a vital sector for high-tech applications dominated by Washington’s main strategic rival China.
Trump also announced he reached a trade agreement with important Southeast Asian partner and ASEAN member Vietnam and could reach one with India, but cast doubt on a possible deal with Japan, Washington’s main Indo-Pacific ally and a major importer and investor in the United States.
Rubio has yet to visit Japan, or neighboring South Korea, the other major US ally in Northeast Asia, since taking office in January, even though Washington sees the Indo-Pacific as its main strategic priority given the perceived threat posed by China.
ASEAN countries have been nervous about Trump’s tariff offensive and have questioned the willingness of his “America First” administration to fully engage diplomatically and economically with the region.

“There is a hunger to be reassured that the US actually views the Indo-Pacific as the primary theater of US interests, key to US national security,” said Greg Poling, director of the Southeast Asia Program at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Other ASEAN countries may be encouraged by Vietnam’s deal with Trump. “This should smooth the way for continued pragmatic security engagement between the US and Vietnam, and hopefully provide a pathway for others in Southeast Asia to get similar deals without having to give up much,” Poling said.


How the 7/7 bombings impacted British society and why it remains relevant 20 years on

Updated 07 July 2025
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How the 7/7 bombings impacted British society and why it remains relevant 20 years on

  • The July 7, 2005, attacks were the UK’s first suicide bombings and triggered a seismic shift in its domestic counterterrorism strategy
  • Despite fears of a backlash, British leaders were praised for uniting communities and refusing to blame Islam for the violence

LONDON: On July 7, 2005, four men joined millions of commuters during London’s morning rush hour, making their way into the UK capital’s labyrinthine public transport network.

At around 8:49 a.m., Shehzad Tanweer, from Leeds in the north of England, detonated a home-made bomb on a Circle Line train between Liverpool Street Station and Aldgate. 

Within 90 seconds, Mohammad Siddique Khan, also from Leeds, blew himself up on a second Circle Line train between Edgware Road and Paddington station, and Germaine Lindsay, from Aylesbury, bombed a Piccadilly Line train as it left Kings Cross St Pancras, heading towards Russell Square.

The blasts killed 42 people, including the three bombers, and left hundreds more wounded. 

A Metropolitan Police handout released July 9, 2005 shows the London Underground train which was involved in the 7/7 bomb attack at Aldgate tube station in London. (AFP/File Photo)

Nearly an hour later, at 9:47 a.m., 18-year-old Hasib Hussein attacked the number 30 bus, traveling from Marble Arch to Hackney Wick, at Tavistock Square. The bus had driven via Euston Station, where commuters, exiting the London Underground, had been forced to make alternative transport arrangements due to the earlier attacks on the tube.

The fourth explosion left another 13 people dead, blowing the roof of the double-decker clean off.

Adel Darwish, the veteran parliamentary reporter and historian, recalled that the day had started like any other.

“I was on my way to Parliament. I was waiting for the tube, and then there was some kind of disruption to the network. I took a cab and went to Parliament,” he told Arab News. 

On arrival, Darwish recalled how he had been on his way to a briefing about UK involvement in the Middle East on the other side of Parliament Square, when he suddenly became aware of how empty the normally bustling center of British politics was.

“For the first time, you could actually see some special forces from the police with guns. I mean, that is something we’re not used to. It’s not like America. So, that was something, some kind of feeling of there being something alien that was happening.”

Asharq Al-Awsat columnist Eyad Abu Chakra was also on his way in to work at his central London offices at the time of the attacks.

Blood stains the walls in the area around the wreckage of a bus, on the junction of Tavistock Square and Woburn Place Euston in London, following an explosion after a bomb went off onboard on July 7, 2005. (AFP/File Photo)

“When I left home, I saw on teletext that there was an incident on a bus,” he said. “When I arrived at Waterloo (Station) … it was so crowded. There was a police presence. You could tell there was something big.”

In the days before social media, and in the heat of the confusion, Darwish said information was scarce.

“The telephone networks started to go in and out,” he said, describing how signals were affected by a sudden surge in people in London attempting to contact loved ones and find out what had happened.

Chakra added: “I started to receive phone calls from colleagues from the Middle East asking me, because they thought that I should know much better than they did. (But) things were so intense, we could not comprehend what was going on anyway.”

The attacks were the first known case of suicide bombings in the UK, and the worst terrorist attack on the country since the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988.

In all, 52 members of the public were killed, 32 of whom were British, with others hailing from as far afield as Nigeria and Afghanistan. In addition, 784 people were injured in the blasts.

The clear and consistent messaging by the UK government under then Prime Minister Tony Blair in the aftermath of the attacks has been praised. (AFP/File Photo)

Despite the onset of the so-called “War on Terror” following the Al-Qaeda attacks on the US on Sept. 11, 2001, the UK, with its sizable, well-established Muslim communities, had experienced relative stability despite significant British involvement in the Middle East.

However, security services were not relaxed about the possibility of an attack on British soil. 

In March 2004, Operation Crevice had uncovered a plot to commit attacks on the UK after police raided properties in four counties surrounding London, eventually leading to five men being convicted of terrorism offences.

Another cell of 13 people was discovered in Luton in August that year after the arrest of alleged Al-Qaeda operative Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan in Pakistan.

Coming in the wake of the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, and the subsequent toppling of Saddam Hussein in Iraq in 2003, the motivation for the 7/7 attacks was conveyed via recorded video messages left by the bombers before they set off for London from Luton.

The four, all British citizens, had not been known to the authorities as threats beforehand, the then Home Secretary Charles Clarke confirmed, although it later transpired Khan had links to the Luton cell.

In his address, Khan praised Al-Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden, Ayman Al-Zawahiri and Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, and blamed Western military involvement in the Middle East and elsewhere for turning him into “a soldier.”

In his video, Tanweer added that the UK government was complicit in the “genocide of 150,000 innocent Muslims in Fallujah,” and blamed it for the “problems in Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq.”

Even while the incident was ongoing in London, the public remained tolerant and calm, something that struck a chord with Asharq Al-Awsat columnist Eyad Abu Chakra who was living and working in British capital at the time. (AFP/File Photo

Arab News Editor-in-Chief Faisal J. Abbas was based in London at the time of the attacks.

“July 7 forced the UK to look into its own backyard and see what has been done in the name of tolerance and freedom of speech,” he said. “I am referring to hate preachers such as Abu Hamza Al-Masri, who was not only inciting against the UK, but was doing so under police protection.”

Abu Hamza, the radical cleric who preached at Finsbury Park Mosque in north London, notorious for replacing his hands, lost in an explosion in Afghanistan, with hooks, became the focus of attention on extremist rhetoric in the UK. 

He was eventually convicted in 2006 of 11 charges relating to terrorism and extremism. The judge presiding over the case said he had “helped to create an atmosphere in which to kill has become regarded by some as not only a legitimate course but a moral and religious duty in pursuit of perceived justice” in the UK.

The domestic response to the attacks was mixed. The far-right British National Party used them as an opportunity to self-promote, distributing leaflets ahead of a by-election in London just a week after, featuring an image of the bombed number 30 bus. 

Londoners across the board came together to reject a message of hatred and fear in the days and weeks following the bombings. (AFP/File Photo)

A report by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia said it had identified cases of arson against mosques in the UK after the attacks, and that many Muslims reported feeling nervous to go outside.

Abbas, though, said the response of the authorities to the attack was positive.

“As an Arab and Muslim immigrant to the UK at the time, and a professional journalist who reported on the attacks, I cannot but commend the UK authorities for keeping calm and carrying on; the way the situation was firmly handled but without creating a scare is admirable,” he said.

“I still remember the press conference of the Metropolitan Police’s chief, Sir Ian Blair, hours after the attacks, where he refused to associate Islam with terror, and as such, reassuring the majority of British Muslims who didn’t endorse such horrendous violence.”

Londoners observe a minute of silence to remember the victims of the 7/7 bombings. (AFP/File Photo)

Darwish, too, highlighted the clear and consistent messaging by the UK government under then Prime Minister Tony Blair.

“They were actually approaching community leaders — Christian, Muslim community leaders — in order to make sure that nothing really broke down. So that was actually quite a good move by the Home Office,” he said.

Chakra noted how, even while the incident was ongoing in London, the public remained tolerant and calm.

“(In) this country, there is no knee-jerk reaction. Everybody was so composed, so tolerant, so open-minded,” he said.

“The people reacted with responsibility, with tolerance, with, I think, solidarity … It was an experience I will never, never forget.”

However, he warned that despite an ingrained British sense of “fair play,” the world was heading in an ever-more polarized direction, and that the UK was “not immune” to such political trends. The July 7 attacks, he added, had played their part in robbing the UK of its political “innocence” that once set it apart.

The Prince of Wales leading a remembrance service in London on the 20th anniversary of the bombings. (AFP)

“There is no doubt in my mind that … 7/7 was, in one way or another, the … British scenario of Sept. 11, but of course, on a much smaller scale,” he said. “However, I think lots of developments took place since then. Globally, we are now seeing lots of events that have been extremely influential in our way of thinking.

“I can never underestimate the danger that Brexit brought to the political scene. I think Brexit was the polite expression of xenophobia, to put it mildly. The ‘we and they’ scenario in Britain has escalated a lot with Brexit. I think the consensus politics that we used to talk about is gone.”

The July 7 attacks proved a precursor to more major terrorist incidents in the UK. On March 22, 2017, Khalid Masood drove into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing four and injuring dozens, then fatally stabbed a police officer outside Parliament before being shot dead.

On 22 May that year, a suicide bomber, Salman Abedi, detonated a homemade device in the foyer of Manchester Arena as crowds were leaving an Ariana Grande concert. The attack killed 22 people, including children, and injured over 100.

Then on June 3 that same year, three attackers drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge, killing two people, before crashing near Borough Market. Armed with large knives and wearing fake explosive vests, they stabbed people in the market area, killing six more and injuring 48. All three attackers were shot dead by police.

An independent coroner’s inquest into the 7/7 attacks in 2011, overseen by Lady Justice Hallett, found that the 52 victims of the bombers were unlawfully killed, but that no additional security service measures could have prevented the attacks.


US revokes foreign terrorist designation for Syria’s HTS

Updated 07 July 2025
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US revokes foreign terrorist designation for Syria’s HTS

  • The move comes a week after Trump signed an executive order terminating a US sanctions program on Syria

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration has revoked the foreign terrorist organization designation for Al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham, according to a State Department memo filed on Monday, a major step as Washington moves to ease sanctions on Syria.

The June 23 dated memo was signed by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and was published in a preview of the Federal Register before official publication on Tuesday.

The move comes a week after Trump signed an executive order terminating a US sanctions program on Syria, to help end the country’s isolation from the international financial system and building on Washington’s pledge to help it rebuild after a devastating civil war.

“In consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury, I hereby revoke the designation of Al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hay’at Tahrir Al-Sham (and other aliases) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization,” Rubio wrote in the memo.

Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, or HTS, was previously Al-Qaeda’s Syria branch, or Nusra Front. In December, Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa led the HTS which together with other Islamist rebels conducted a lightning offensive that ousted Syria’s former president Bashar Assad.

Sharaa’s HTS severed Al-Qaeda ties years ago and says it wants to build an inclusive and democratic Syria.

Syria’s foreign ministry had no immediate comment.

Sharaa and Trump met in Riyadh in May where, in a major policy shift, Trump unexpectedly announced he would lift US sanctions on Syria, prompting Washington to significantly ease its measures.


Afghanistan faces new crisis as hundreds of thousands forced back from Iran

Afghan families are stranded at the Islam Qala border crossing between Afghanistan and Iran on June 28, 2025. (AFP)
Updated 07 July 2025
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Afghanistan faces new crisis as hundreds of thousands forced back from Iran

  • International Organization for Migration estimates 450,000 Afghans returned from Iran since June
  • Iranian authorities set in March a July 6 deadline for 4 million undocumented Afghan nationals to leave

KABUL: Ahmad Nazir had nothing with him except his work clothes when he reached the Islam Qala border crossing and entered Afghanistan, forced, like hundreds of thousands of others, to suddenly leave Iran.

Nazir, 24, has worked at a restaurant in Tehran for the past four years. He arrived at Islam Qala — part of the main route connecting Afghanistan’s Herat and Iran’s Mashhad — on July 6, which was the deadline that Iranian authorities set for undocumented Afghans to leave.

“Two days ago, the Iranian police took me from the restaurant and put me on a bus to Islam Qala. I came with nothing but my work clothes,” he told Arab News.

A native of the central Parwan province — some 600 km from Herat — Nazir is now waiting for his family to help him return home.

He is one of nearly 450,000 Afghans who returned to the country since June, according to estimates by the International Organization for Migration and local nongovernmental organizations helping the returnees.

“Approximately 30,000 Afghans are returning from Iran each day through the Islam Qala border crossing, and most are forcibly deported. They include both undocumented refugees and Afghans with legal documents,” said Abdul Fatah Jawad, director of the Ehsas Welfare and Social Services Organization, which is providing help in Herat province.

“Most families arriving at the Islam Qala border crossing have no tents, forcing many to improvise makeshift shelters to shield themselves and their children from the scorching sun. They wait in these harsh conditions for their turn to receive limited cash assistance before continuing on to their home provinces.”

Many have nowhere to go as they moved to Iran decades ago with their whole families. Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities, which have vowed to support all those returning, do not have the means and funding to do so.

“The people of Herat have shown tremendous support, offering food and transportation to returning families,” Jawad said.

“Ehsas is providing cooked meals and water to up to 3,000 people each day, but this support is far from sufficient given the scale of new arrivals. A significantly broader and more urgent response is needed from the government, international organizations, and those with the means to contribute. This is a humanitarian crisis of much greater magnitude.”

The exodus from Iran is worsening a crisis caused by a similar deportation drive that has been underway in Pakistan since last year.

The two countries have hosted millions of Afghans fleeing war and poverty at home for the past 40 years. Official estimates suggest that over 4 million Afghan nationals were living in Pakistan, while in Iran, the figure is around 6 million, with 4 million believed to be undocumented.

In 2025 alone, more than 900,000 Afghan refugees and migrants have been forced to leave both countries, pushing local systems to the brink of collapse and jeopardizing access to vital services for both returnees and the communities that host them.

While many Afghans have fled the Israeli bombing of Iranian cities in mid-June, the directive for undocumented migrants to depart voluntarily has been in place since March. Iranian authorities ordered them to comply by July 6 or face deportation.

Many of those returning through Islam Qala, the main border crossing, are completely unprepared to move. Some were born in Iran and have never lived in Afghanistan.
Islamuddin Momini, a university lecturer from Herat who joined a convoy delivering aid to the returnees in Islam Qala, said the situation was “extremely grim,” with many people arriving visibly traumatized.

“They are living in a state of psychological shock, compounded by severe shortages of food, water, and shelter,” Momini told Arab News.

“Upon returning to their home provinces, returnees will face a new set of challenges, including limited access to employment, education, and livelihood opportunities.

Addressing these medium to long-term needs requires comprehensive support systems to facilitate their reintegration into society — an especially difficult task amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis and prevailing restrictions.”