The number of people displaced by war and persecution around the world has surpassed 122 million this year, due to the failure to resolve long-standing conflicts such as those in Sudan and Ukraine, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said.
A report by UN High Commissioner for Refugees Philippe Grandi said funding for refugee assistance had fallen to 2015 levels.
By the end of April this year, there were at least two million more displaced people worldwide than the previous year, despite the return of almost the same number of Syrians after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, the document said.
Grandi said the increase was due to major conflicts in Sudan, Myanmar and Ukraine, and the continued failure to stop the fighting.
“We live in a time of heightened instability in international relations, where modern warfare creates a fragile, harrowing environment marked by acute human suffering,” Grandi said.
Humanitarians complain that a lack of political leadership in brokering peace deals is prolonging conflicts and straining aid groups.
The sharp increase in the number of displaced people comes as funding for them has fallen to levels seen in 2015, when the total number of refugees worldwide was about half of what it is now, the UNHCR said.
US President Donald Trump has significantly reduced the aid the United States provides worldwide, while the UK and other European countries are also spending less on aid and more on defence.
The UNHCR, without naming donors, described the cuts as “brutal and ongoing” and stressed that the situation was unsustainable.
David Miliband, president and chief executive of the aid group the International Rescue Committee, said cuts to poorer countries would lead to further displacement.
