The number of displaced persons has been increasing every year since 2011, reaching a staggering 59.5 million end of 2014.
This number sets another milestone in displacement — but it is not exactly surprising. Given the multiple conflicts and natural disasters happening around the world from Syria to Iraq, alongside protracted crises such as in Afghanistan and Colombia, the higher numbers — and the expectation that they will rise further — come as no surprise.
But changes are happening. Globally today, more internally displaced persons and refugees are living outside the traditional camp settings, some as part of national policy as in the case of Lebanon. Nearly 7.6 million or 63.2 percent of the 12.2 million refugees for which the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees has geographic data are living in individual accommodations.
About the author
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.
