World Refugee Day – millions more welcomed to hell on Earth

It comes at a time when the plight of migrants and refugees around the world has reached an all-time low, and is tragically going to get worse and worse in years to come.

Last week a new report issued by the UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR), “Global Trends in Forced Displacement 2022”, “found that by the end of 2022, the number of people displaced by war, persecution, violence and human rights abuses stood at a record 108.4 million, up 19.1 million on a year earlier, which was the biggest ever increaseSudanese refugees and South Sudanese returnees travel atop a truck transporting them from the border towards the Upper Nile State town of Renk, South Sudan, 12 May 2023. Fleeing the armed conflict between the Sudanese military and the RSF (Rapid Support Forces) militia which started last 15 April, some 40 000 people have arrived into South Sudan according to the UNHCR. (Photo: EPA-EFE / Amel Pain)[/caption]

The report estimated that “the upward trajectory in global forced displacement showed no sign of slowing in 2023 as the eruption of conflict in Sudan triggered new outflows, pushing the global total to an estimated 110 million by May”.

What is being deliberately overlooked (and allowed to continue) are the systemic crises that are driving a biblical flood of refugees across and into borders, over and into seas.

These numbers are staggering, but as usual the huge numbers mask the terrible human tragedy that is being inflicted on so many individual people.