Nearly a three-quarters of a million people displaced in Pakistan: Report
One family flees Syrian war every minute.
Asia had a record 3.2 million displaced people in 2013 caused by violence related to armed conflict. PHOTO: AFP/FILE
GENEVA:
Pakistan had nearly three-quarters of a million internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the end of 2013 with thousands fleeing the violence hit FATA and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa regions of the country, a report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) said on Wednesday.
Pakistan accounted for nearly a quarter of the 3.2 million displaced persons in Asia having recorded as many as 746,700 IDPs in the country since 2004 (data was considered mostly for FATA and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa). The IDMC noted that Pakistan had recorded 140,000 newly displaced persons in 2013 alone.
Pakistan ranks at 146 in the Human Development Index (HDI).
The report stated that displacement in Pakistan was not always officially acknowledged.
The main areas from which the majority of the people fled were Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
FATA experienced two waves of displacement in 2013 when conflict between non-state armed groups caused 17,000 people to flee from their homes in March. And, clashes between the army and non-state armed groups caused 10,600 families to flee in Kurram.
In Afghanistan, which ranks 175 HDI, the total number of IDPs in 2013 was at least 631,000 and the number of the new displacements was 124,000.
However, the figures do not include those IDPs who live in inaccessible regions or informal settlements.
Around 53,000 people fled their homes in the province of Helmand – where more than half the displacement took place.
The total number of IDPs in India in 2013 was at least 526,000 with 64,000 new displacements in the same year. India ranks 136 in the HDI.
According to research, more than 488,000 people continue to live in protracted displacement – which lasts an average of five to ten years.
The report stated that approximately 51,000 people were displaced in Uttar Pradesh due to riots which occurred in September. The state had said that 90% of them had returned, however local organisations assisting IDPs said that more than 27,000 people were still living in unofficial camps – following an eviction from official camps after which they lived in unofficial camps.
Syrian war forces one family to flee every minute
The war in Syria is driving one family from their home every minute, pushing the number of people internally displaced by conflict to a new global high, the UN's former aid chief said Wednesday.
A total of 8.2 million people were forced to flee their homes by violence last year, nearly half of them in Syria, Jan Egeland told reporters.
The global total of displaced people reached 33.3 million in 2013, including people affected by protracted crises lasting for decades.
"These are people in absolute crisis. They are unprotected. They are often lacking assistance. They are the most vulnerable of humankind," said Egeland, who now heads the Norwegian Refugee Council.
"It is worse than the bleakest and blackest hours of the 1990s, with the genocides in Bosnia, elsewhere in the Balkans, and in Rwanda and the Congo," he told reporters.
The figures were revealed in a report by the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), run by the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Internally displaced people (IDPs) are those who flee their homes but stay in their country, as opposed to those who cross a border and are considered refugees.
While refugees benefit from protection under international law, IDPs are the responsibility of their country's authorities, which are often unable to help them or outright unwilling.
"In many situations, that is not an effective protection," said United Nations refugee chief Antonio Guterres.
"This of course is a serious problem in relation to the capacity to protect the rights of people internally displaced," he added.
It can be near-impossible for aid workers to reach IDPs, who may end up being forced to move on again just as they rebuild their lives, can find it hard to flee abroad to rebuild their lives and often live in poverty.
Each one of the globe's 33.3 million IDPs has on average been displaced for 17 years.
"What we are witnessing today in our world is a multiplication of conflicts, and at the same time it looks like old conflicts never die," said Guterres.
There are now roughly double the number of IDPs worldwide as refugees.
"Since 2000, there has been a relentless increase in the number of internally displaced, but the last two years have been by far the worst," said Egeland.
"Syria is the epicentre of violent, forced displacement."
Around 9,500 people a day -- approximately one family every 60 seconds -- are being driven from their homes in the conflict-ridden country.
A total of 6.5 million have been displaced since war broke out between Damascus and rebel forces in March 2011 - 3.5 million in 2013 alone -- while a further 2.7 million are refugees mainly in neighbouring countries.
After Syria, the two countries with the highest number of people fleeing their homes in 2013 were the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with nearly a million each.
The IDMC study also showed that Syria and four other countries -- Colombia, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan -- accounted for two-thirds of the global total.
The Colombia, Congo and Sudan crises have been the most drawn out due to long-running insurgencies or ethnic conflict. Their IDP totals were 5.7 million, 2.9 million and 2.4 million respectively.
Egeland said the 3.3 million people displaced in Nigeria was particularly shocking.
Last year alone, 300,000 Nigerians were forced to flee by the conflict with Islamist militants Boko Haram and a further 170,000 by communal strife.
While the IDMC study focused on 2013, Egeland noted that the South Sudan conflict, which erupted in December, has so far displaced a million people.
Pakistan had nearly three-quarters of a million internally displaced persons (IDPs) at the end of 2013 with thousands fleeing the violence hit FATA and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa regions of the country, a report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) said on Wednesday.
Pakistan accounted for nearly a quarter of the 3.2 million displaced persons in Asia having recorded as many as 746,700 IDPs in the country since 2004 (data was considered mostly for FATA and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa). The IDMC noted that Pakistan had recorded 140,000 newly displaced persons in 2013 alone.
Pakistan ranks at 146 in the Human Development Index (HDI).
The report stated that displacement in Pakistan was not always officially acknowledged.
The main areas from which the majority of the people fled were Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA).
FATA experienced two waves of displacement in 2013 when conflict between non-state armed groups caused 17,000 people to flee from their homes in March. And, clashes between the army and non-state armed groups caused 10,600 families to flee in Kurram.
In Afghanistan, which ranks 175 HDI, the total number of IDPs in 2013 was at least 631,000 and the number of the new displacements was 124,000.
However, the figures do not include those IDPs who live in inaccessible regions or informal settlements.
Around 53,000 people fled their homes in the province of Helmand – where more than half the displacement took place.
The total number of IDPs in India in 2013 was at least 526,000 with 64,000 new displacements in the same year. India ranks 136 in the HDI.
According to research, more than 488,000 people continue to live in protracted displacement – which lasts an average of five to ten years.
The report stated that approximately 51,000 people were displaced in Uttar Pradesh due to riots which occurred in September. The state had said that 90% of them had returned, however local organisations assisting IDPs said that more than 27,000 people were still living in unofficial camps – following an eviction from official camps after which they lived in unofficial camps.
Syrian war forces one family to flee every minute
The war in Syria is driving one family from their home every minute, pushing the number of people internally displaced by conflict to a new global high, the UN's former aid chief said Wednesday.
A total of 8.2 million people were forced to flee their homes by violence last year, nearly half of them in Syria, Jan Egeland told reporters.
The global total of displaced people reached 33.3 million in 2013, including people affected by protracted crises lasting for decades.
"These are people in absolute crisis. They are unprotected. They are often lacking assistance. They are the most vulnerable of humankind," said Egeland, who now heads the Norwegian Refugee Council.
"It is worse than the bleakest and blackest hours of the 1990s, with the genocides in Bosnia, elsewhere in the Balkans, and in Rwanda and the Congo," he told reporters.
The figures were revealed in a report by the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), run by the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Internally displaced people (IDPs) are those who flee their homes but stay in their country, as opposed to those who cross a border and are considered refugees.
While refugees benefit from protection under international law, IDPs are the responsibility of their country's authorities, which are often unable to help them or outright unwilling.
"In many situations, that is not an effective protection," said United Nations refugee chief Antonio Guterres.
"This of course is a serious problem in relation to the capacity to protect the rights of people internally displaced," he added.
It can be near-impossible for aid workers to reach IDPs, who may end up being forced to move on again just as they rebuild their lives, can find it hard to flee abroad to rebuild their lives and often live in poverty.
Each one of the globe's 33.3 million IDPs has on average been displaced for 17 years.
"What we are witnessing today in our world is a multiplication of conflicts, and at the same time it looks like old conflicts never die," said Guterres.
There are now roughly double the number of IDPs worldwide as refugees.
"Since 2000, there has been a relentless increase in the number of internally displaced, but the last two years have been by far the worst," said Egeland.
"Syria is the epicentre of violent, forced displacement."
Around 9,500 people a day -- approximately one family every 60 seconds -- are being driven from their homes in the conflict-ridden country.
A total of 6.5 million have been displaced since war broke out between Damascus and rebel forces in March 2011 - 3.5 million in 2013 alone -- while a further 2.7 million are refugees mainly in neighbouring countries.
After Syria, the two countries with the highest number of people fleeing their homes in 2013 were the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with nearly a million each.
The IDMC study also showed that Syria and four other countries -- Colombia, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan -- accounted for two-thirds of the global total.
The Colombia, Congo and Sudan crises have been the most drawn out due to long-running insurgencies or ethnic conflict. Their IDP totals were 5.7 million, 2.9 million and 2.4 million respectively.
Egeland said the 3.3 million people displaced in Nigeria was particularly shocking.
Last year alone, 300,000 Nigerians were forced to flee by the conflict with Islamist militants Boko Haram and a further 170,000 by communal strife.
While the IDMC study focused on 2013, Egeland noted that the South Sudan conflict, which erupted in December, has so far displaced a million people.