| dc.description.abstract | More than 70 million forcibly displaced persons (FDP) are scattered around the globe, largely due
to violence, conflict/ war, persecution or human-rights violations (UNHCR 2019). Among them,
13 million people were newly displaced in 2018; equivalent to more than 35,000 people per day
(UNHCR 2019). Approximately one of every 113 people on the planet has been forcibly displaced
(Edmond 2017).(Krasnikov and Becker, 2020).Refugee issues are not a new problem, but rather
one that started during the earliest days of humanity. History books have several episodes of forced
movements of populations. However, the term ‘refugee’ seems to have first been coined in 1573,
when it was used to describe Calvinists fleeing political repression in the Spanish controlled
Netherlands to seek refuge with their co-religionists in France (Medecins Sans Frontieres, 1997).
Refugee populations are caused by wars, civil conflicts, ethnic persecutions, famines and other
natural disasters. These populations often cross-national borders and become international
refugees within a different country (Michael Cernea, 2000). According to UNHCR, “by the end of
2016, 65.6 million individuals were forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict,
generalized violence or human rights violations. Out of 65.6 million, 22.5 million persons were
refugees1, 40.3 million Internally Displaced Persons and 2.8 million asylum seekers” (UNHCR,
2016a: 2). Developing regions hosted 84 per cent of the world’s refugees under UNHCR mandate
(UNHCR, 2016a). By the end of 2017, displacement due to armed conflict, violence or persecution
occurred for 68.5 million people worldwide. Of these, 25.4 million were classified as refugees.
With continuing global conflict, numbers are expected to rise, as circumstances driving
displacement persist.(Ahimbisibwe, 2018) | en_US |
