introduction

For more than 12 years, the number of people remaining forcibly displaced by persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order has continued to grow, reaching an estimated 122.6 million by the end of June 2024. (unhcr midterms)

Migration and displacement pose some of the biggest humanitarian challenges of our time. Helping people cope with the risks and challenges of migration and work to protect and restore their dignity.(ifrc)

Besides risks The conditions in which refugees have to live are sometimes deplorable, as the photo on the front cover also shows.

Lack of knowledge certainly plays a role, but deliberate ignorance of inconvenient facts is also a crucial factor explaining why certain types of (inconvenient) evidence do neither ‘reach’ political debates nor inform policy making (H.de Haas,2024)

With increasing political polarization and paralysis,innocents are paying the highest price. Some crises, such as Ukraine and Gaza, gained –understandably – international attention. Others – regrettably – continued to fail to make it to the headlines

Filippo Grandi

This is a good place to demonstrate special features that your template provides. Ideally it should knit out-of-the-box, or at least contain clear instructions as to what needs changing.

UNHCR Refugee data

UNHCR has created the refugees R package designed to facilitate access to the data within the Refugee Data Finder. It provides an easy-to-use interface to the datasets, which cover forcibly displaced populations, including refugees, asylum-seekers and internally displaced people, stateless people, and others over a span of more than 70 years. This package provides data from three major sources:

• Data from UNHCR’s annual statistical activities dating back to 1951.
• Data from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
• Data from the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) on people displaced within their country due to conflict or violence.

Data within the refugees package is updated at the same time as the Refugee Data Finder, twice per year. The table on the next page show the countries where the most refugees come from. Syria on the top of the list followed by Venezuela.

Children

Between 2010 and 2023, the global number of children displaced due to conflict and violence more than doubled, from around 18.8 million to the current number of 47.2 million.(UNICEF)

Surveys

Since 2015, IOM has conducted surveys with migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons through its Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM), gathering information about migrants’ demographic details (including age and/or number of children), as well as their experiences of abuse, exploitation and trafficking. DTM collects data in many countries and regions, depending on the size and needs of populations on the move. Additionally, the Mixed Migration Centre’s Mixed Migration Monitoring Mechanism Initiative (4Mi) interviews migrants to collect and analyse data on mixed migration flows in selected countries in Asia, East Africa, Europe, North Africa, West Africa and South America. Summaries of the results include the number of survey participants who were aged under 18.

They are as young as 7 and as old as 75. Some have recently fled their homes, while others have been displaced for decades.

Miranda Cleland-GlobalGiving

People forced to flee

People forced to flee doubled in the last 10 years. Last year, the world recorded 59 conflicts, the highest number since 1946, according to the Norwegian research institute PRIO. Syrie Oekrain Gaza but also Afghanistan Sudan and Congo.

Sudan

The conflict began in April 2023. Central to the conflict is the rivalry between two generals: Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of the regular army, and Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, also known as Hemedti, of the paramilitary group RSF (Rapid Support Forces). In addition to the region around Khartoum, heavy fighting is taking place in the western region of Darfur, which experienced a civil war 20 years ago.

According to aid organizations, over 60,000 deaths have occurred in the Khartoum region alone. Furthermore, out of a total population of 50 million, 12 million people have been displaced

Gaza

An announcement of a ceasefire between the parties in the Gaza Strip conflict was made at the beginning of 2025. This news was urgently needed for the children and families in the region who have been suffering from bombings and hardships for over a year, as well as for the hostages in Gaza and their families.

The United Nations, international aid organizations, and non-governmental organizations have so far managed to provide humanitarian aid in Gaza. Despite extraordinarily difficult circumstances, the quantities remain far below what is needed to prevent a deadly combination of hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. The conflict has damaged or destroyed essential infrastructure and services in the areas of water, sanitation, and healthcare (UNICEF)

Countries with the most refugees

In absolute numbers, Turkey took in the most refugees (3.8 million), followed by Colombia (1.8 million), Uganda (1.5 million), Pakistan (1.5 million), and Germany (1.3 million). - (Stichting Vluchteling 2022)

“But only one-third of these people seek safety in another country. According to United Nations figures, most people flee from Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela, Ukraine, and Sudan, largely due to conflicts in these countries. 69% of refugees settle in a neighboring country. Turkey, Iran, and Colombia host the most refugees (source:Red Cross:UNHCR).”

In the next plot Iran and Columbia are not mentioned but the plot shows the increase of refugees within the last 10 years from 2011 to 2021. Number of refugees who flee to Iran has increased after 2021.

Mediterranee

Many migrants from Africa attempt to make the crossing to Europe in rubber boats. Every year, countless lives are lost at sea, while people face unimaginable cruelty on their way through transit countries such as Libya.Between 2014 and 2022, at least 20,248 people have drowned or gone missing while attempting to cross the Central Mediterranean.

Between January 2024 and mid-August, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates more than 1000 people died or went missing in the central Mediterranean Sea.

The IFRC has been operating a Humanitarian Service Point onboard the Ocean Viking in partnership with SOS Mediterranée since July 2021. Together, we’ve rescued and provided humanitarian assistance to more than 4,000 people.

SOS Mediterranée focuses on the search and rescue side of the operation, while IFRC teams onboard provide humanitarian assistance (such as health and psychosocial support, food, water and information) to people rescued

The story of Sara

posted her story as blog in 2016

“Am I not a woman and a sister?”- First Rescue

I came on board the M.V Aquarius knowing as a counselor that I had to prepare for the worst, anticipate it in some way while believing for the best. I had never sailed nor done rescue work prior to this so I asked a lot of questions, did my own research and was prepared for rescue. Then we got the call hat a rubber boat had been sighted and needed immediate aid, the announcement was made on board, we donned our protective gear and went to the deck. However, another rescue vessel already had some people on board, so it was communicated that they would take the migrants instead; but in the meantime, we would calm them down, hand out life jackets, and lots of water to keep them hydrated until the vessel arrived.

Not long afterwards, one of our medics who joined the search and rescue team on the Rigid-Hulled Inflatable Boat (RHIB) to assess urgent medical needs radioed in that there was an emergency, a woman seemed to be having a seizure and was almost unconscious. The stretcher was prepared and the medics were ready for her to be brought on board, in my opinion, all would be well, until I saw her as she was lifted on board on a stretcher. She had dark skin like me, was under 5 ft 9 like me, Nigerian like me, a young woman like me, and she even had corn rows like me. I was shocked for a moment, thinking “this is real, she just attempted to cross the Mediterranean into Europe, just risked her life like many before her have done” Then the tears came and I hastily brushed them away, the time to cry and process would come later.

Let me explain a bit more so you understand my emotions better; I am Nigerian and that could have easily been me or one of my loved ones. These people who attempt to cross the Mediterranean are often treated as economic leeches, scavengers who want to benefit from the strong European economy and the hard earned money of Europeans. That is far from the truth because these are people fighting to survive economic hardships, extreme political oppression, starvation and poverty; so much so that they put their lives and the lives of their children at peril on wooden and rubber boats that may or may not make it into international waters and be rescued by vessels like ours.

Europe, North America, Australia and even parts of Africa are made up of migrants (with the exception of aboriginals and natives) because migration has always been part of our world, so why the outcry against African migrants with valid reasons for migration? I find it ironic that a Westerner can migrate and be called an “expat” but many Africans wanting to do the same are often denied the opportunity. Denied visas, deportation, refused entry at port of entry, and we wonder why they take the perilous route thereby lining the pockets of smugglers.

As a Nigerian woman who has done a lot of traveling, I know how much I have to prove my innocence and credibility when I travel so that border control authorities know that I am going back to my “home”, wherever that is for me. That I always have my credit card, enough cash, a return ticket, other supporting documents and especially my EU residence permit with me because even airline staff will double check that to ensure it is real.

Looking at the woman with corn rows, one line comes to mind “Am I not a man and a brother?” This was inscribed on an anti-slavery medallion created by famous potter and abolitionist Josiah Wedgewood in 1787 and as I think of her, I wonder “is she not a woman and a sister? Am I not a woman and a sister?” Why is life so perilous for us based on where we come from or the color of our skin?

We must never give up hope, never give up doing justly, speak on behalf of those who have been silenced or are ignored, and love others because only then can the world be a better place.

I never got to speak with that woman, once our medics treated and helped her regain strength, she was transported to the other rescue vessel that was now waiting to take her and the others to the port allocated them in Italy. I will never forget that moment though, remember we all bleed the same and on the inside, we look the same, we deserve a just world.

Take care of yourself, help others, and remember that one day when you leave this world you can’t take anything with you; however, you could leave a legacy behind.. What will it be?

data

IDMC’s Global Report on Internal Displacement (GRID) is the authoritative source for data and analysis on the state of internal displacement for the previous year. Each year, IDMC presents the validated estimates of internal displacements by conflict and disasters, and the total cumulative numbers of IDPs worldwide. The GRID also provides an overview of the year’s most significant internal displacement situations, highlighting potential measures to address the issue across the humanitarian, development, disaster risk reduction and climate change agendas.

On the website https://www.internal-displacement.org/database/displacement-data/ it is possible to get acces to the data and download it in exel format or gjson. Also it is possible to get an api if you ask by email. The next line graphic show the annual numbers of idps.

IFRC

There is nothing natural about a disaster. Shocks and hazards do not inevitably lead to catastrophe. Yet every year 67,000 people are killed, 26 million are driven into poverty, and nearly 200 million people are affected by natural hazards worldwide.

It is the world’s poorest and most exposed people who suffer the most. And older people, women and girls and people living with disabilities are disproportionately affected.

Climate-smart disaster risk reduction saves lives by limiting the amount of risk people face and the level of damage a crisis might cause. It can help communities effectively prepare for and cope with natural hazards.

Challanges ahead

Migration is a development challenge. About 184 million people—2.3 percent of the world’s population—live outside of their country of nationality. Almost half of them are in low- and middle-income countries (Worldbank.2023). Migration is of all times. The term migration also differs and institutions like the European commission make their own definition So there is no universally agreed definition.The United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs defines a long-term migrant as a person who lives outside their country of origin for at least 12 months.

There is a lot of literature about migrants. About networks, migrant entrepreneurship and minority communities and migration theories about aspirations and capabilities. De Haas(2021) conceptualize migration as a function of people’s capabilities and aspirations to migrate within given sets of perceived geographical opportunity structures. Applying Sen’s (1999) capabilities framework. People’s freedom to choose where to live – including the option to stay.Burgers and Engbersen (2003) indicate that, in addition to micro and macro theories, there are also studies that emphasize the meso level. In these studies, the individual decision-making role is less prominent, and more emphasis is placed on the groups and networks to which individuals belong. Resources and social capital form the explanation for the migration process in this context.