Global refugee crisis: When will we wake up
The United Nations refugee agency has released statistics that show the number of displaced people around the world has reached more than 60 million people. That means one in every 122 people on the planet is either a refugee, internally displaced or seeking asylum. And while this is reportedly the highest level of displaced people ever recorded, there is profound apathy in global responses to the refugee crisis.
While UNHCR head Antonio Guterres told the BBC that the “world is a mess”, stricken with conflicts which are causing the crisis with no clear end in sight, he also mentioned how the lack of a humanitarian response is a major impediment in cleaning up the mess.
The statistics are grim. The report says that 59.5 million people were displaced by the end of 2014, which included 19.5 million refugees, 38.2 million internally displaced people and 1.8 million still awaiting the outcome of asylum claims. Of these numbers, a staggering 50% of the refugees were children. Almost 86 per cent of all refugees are in the developing countries, which lack the infrastructure and resources to tackle the challenge.
Read More