According to the United Nations’ High Commission on Refugees Global Trends Report: World at War, published in June 2015, sixty million people worldwide are now refugees due to conflict in their home nations. One in every 122 people is considered a refugee, internally displaced, or an asylum seeker. Those individuals come from almost every continent. Parts of Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa all have massive numbers of people who are trying to flee. Millions of people are on the move or hiding in the fringes of society to keep from being persecuted and harmed.
Over half of these refugees are children. 86% of refugees are from countries that are considered to be economically unstable.
Since 2009, fifteen specific crises have dramatically increased the number of refugees. While Syrian refugees account for the largest number with 7.6 million, other places such as Colombia, parts of sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia continue to go barely noticed. Relief aid to all of these countries is seriously lacking and in dire need.
According to UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres, “It is terrifying that on the one hand there is more and more impunity for those starting conflicts, and on the other there is seeming utter inability of the international community to work together to stop wars and build and preserve peace.”
Source: Jennifer Baker, “Global Refugee Crises Reaches an Unprecedented 60 Million,” Revolution News, June 24, 2015, http://revolution-news.com/global-refugee-crises-reaches-an-unprecedented-60-million/.
Student Researcher: Mark Nelson (Sonoma State University)
Faculty Evaluator: Anne Donegan (Santa Rosa Junior College)