Over 122 million people forcibly displaced worldwide, says UN refugee agency

The U.N. refugee agency says the number of people forcible displaced by violence and persecution around the world has risen to more than 122 million, up by about 2 million from last year and a near-doubling over the last decade.

UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi nonetheless pointed to some "rays of hope" over the last six months, including the return home of nearly 2 million Syrians as their country tries to recover from more than a decade of civil war.

The findings come as the refugee agency released its Global Trends Report on Thursday, which said the number of people driven abroad or displaced in their home countries by war, violence and persecution as of April rose to 122.1 million, up from 120 million a year earlier.

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Among those, the numbers of internally displaced people jumped by more than 9% to 73.5 million at the end of last year. The numbers represent cumulative figures from years of conflict, violence and persecution, and some displaced people returned home last year even as others fled.

The report comes at a time when humanitarian groups are facing budget cuts from the United States and other traditional Western donors.

UNHCR said nearly two-thirds of people who crossed national borders to flee remained in neighboring countries, countering the "widespread perception in wealthier regions" that a majority of people were fleeing in a bid to reach places like Europe or the United States.

The agency said Sudan, which has been riven by civil war, has become home to the world's largest displacement crisis, with more than 14 million people displaced by the conflict - surpassing Syria, at 13.5 million. More than 10 million in Afghanistan have been forcibly displaced, and some 8.8 million within or from Ukraine, UNHCR said.