UN urges deal on refugees as 68.5m displaced

ROME - A global deal on refugees is urgently needed as the number of people forcibly driven from their home by war, persecution and violence reached 68.5 million in 2017, the UN refugee agency said on Wednesday.

The record high marked a 2.9 million increase on 2016, and included an estimated 16.2 million new displaced people. More specifically, some 11.8 million individuals were newly displaced inside their own country, and 4.4 million were new refugees and asylum-seekers.

These were some of the figures provided by the UNHCR in its "Global Trends" annual report, unveiled on Tuesday and presented at Rome's Foreign Press Association to mark World Refugee Day.

Refugees fleeing their countries due to war and persecution numbered 25.4 million last year. Minors represented at least 52 percent of the overall figure, marking a 41 percent increase compared to 2009.

"We are at a watershed, where success in managing forced displacement globally requires a new and far more comprehensive approach, so that countries and communities are not left alone in dealing with this," UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi stressed in the report.

Despite a misperception widely spread across Europe, Italy included, about 85 percent of all refugees at the end of 2017 were granted protection in developing countries, according to the UNHCR.

The report showed that nine of the 10 largest refugee-hosting countries belonged to developing regions, with Turkey (3.5 million), Pakistan (1.4 million), Uganda (1.4 million) and Lebanon (998,900) topping the ranking. Germany (970,400) was the sole "representative" of developed countries.

The need for a global approach to manage the challenge was pressing, according to UN officials.

"The UNCHR is engaged in discussing (the issue) in these days, both internally and with the International Organization for Migration," UNHCR Representative for Southern Europe Felipe Camargo said.

"The aim is to develop a proposal on a migrant and refugee disembarking system and on redistribution of responsibilities, which could eventually be integrated in the debate on migration ongoing within the European Union."

Details of such a blueprint were not yet available, but its basic principle would "obviously remain that of solidarity and responsibility sharing", according to Camargo.

Xinhua

(China Daily 06/22/2018 page12)