Sudan tops global displacement crisis

A new report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) states that conflict and violence in regions such as Sudan, Palestine, and others have driven the number of internally displaced people (IDPs) around the world to 75.9 million by the end of 2023, setting a new record. Sudan stands out prominently in the report, with over nine million individuals displaced by the end of the year, marking the highest number ever recorded in a single country since records began in 2008.

The report, published on Tuesday, highlights that Sudan experienced six million internal displacements due to conflict in 2023 alone, surpassing its cumulative figures for the previous 14 years combined, underscoring that two-thirds of the new displacements were a consequence of violence in regions such as Sudan, Congo, and across the Middle East.

Speaking to Voice of America, Ivana Hajzmanova, a spokesperson for the centre, expressed deep concern over the plight of Sudanese displaced persons, stating, ” We are very concerned about their needs and their vulnerabilities, because each new displacement reduces their resilience.”

The report also indicates a concerning trend of a 50 per cent increase in internally displaced people worldwide over the past five years, nearly doubling over the past decade. It’s noteworthy that the report does not encompass refugees who have fled to other countries.

Out of the total 46.9 million cases of displacement recorded in 2023, many individuals experienced displacement multiple times. However, in instances such as natural disasters, most eventually returned home.

Sub-Saharan Africa bore the brunt of this crisis, with half of the 75.9 million displaced individuals at the end of the year located in the region, the report highlights.

Jan Egeland, secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, which oversees the monitoring centre, lamented, “The result of this report is that we are in a deep global crisis because we have never recorded worse figures for internal displacement due to violence, conflict, and persecution.”

Conflict and violence accounted for nearly 90 per cent of the total displacement, with natural disasters contributing to approximately 10 per cent, according to the report.

The dire situation depicted in the report states that over three million displacements occurred within Gaza in the fourth quarter of 2023 amid Israel’s military response to attacks on October 7, meaning many individuals were displaced multiple times within an area of approximately 2.2 million people, leaving 1.7 million people displaced in Gaza by the year’s end.

IDMC director Alexandra Bilak, described the millions forced to flee in 2023 as the “tip of the iceberg,” alongside tens of millions displaced by previous and ongoing conflicts, violence, and disasters.