The new figure brings the total number of people living in internal displacement to a record 50.8 million, according to a report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) is far higher than the some 26 million who have fled across borders as refugees. The report found that conflict forced 8.5 million IDPs to flee last year in countries like Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and South Sudan. Together with those already displaced, more than 45 million people live in internal displacement brought on by conflict, including nearly 6.5 million in Syria, which has been ravaged by nine years of civil war. Heavy and prolonged rains and flooding in Africa forced another two million people into internal displacement last year, the report said.

Source: Dhaka Tribune April 28, 2020 03:22 UTC