In light of a June 20 World Refugee Day, the UN office for High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Thursday issued a report stating 2014 had seen the highest displacement on record.
The report reveals the unprecedented number of people having to flee their homes because of wars, conflict and persecution, with worldwide forced displacement numbers reaching 59.5 million by the end of last year.
This represents a significant increase compared to 2013, when 51.2 million people were forcibly displaced, while 37.5 million people had fled their dwellings a decade ago.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres confirmed that his agency is finding it increasingly difficult to deliver the minimum standards defined by its mandate to all those in need of protection around the world.
According to the report, out of the 59.5 million displaced people reported in 2014, 19.5 million were refugees, 38.2 million were internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 1.8 million were awaiting the outcome of asylum claims.
Figures furthermore indicate that over half (51 percent) of the reported refugees last year were children, up from 41 percent in 2009.
"Only one in every two children refugees is able to attend primary school and only one in four is able to attend secondary school," said Guterres, adding that less than 1 percent have access to tertiary education.
The recent increase in displacement trends was markedly accelerated in 2011 by the Syrian crisis, with 42,500 people becoming refugees, asylum seekers or IDPs every day in 2014.
Figures reveal that last year alone saw some 13.9 million people become displaced because of conflict or persecution, including 11 million newly displaced within the borders of their country, and 2.9 million new refugees.
The report highlights the systemic reach of these trends: Europe witnessed a significant rise of forced displacement numbers in 2014 (51 percent increase), as did the Middle East and North Africa (up 19 percent), Sub-Saharan Africa (up 17 percent), Asia (up 31 percent) and the Americas (up 12 percent).
The top refugee-hosting countries were Turkey (1.59 million), Pakistan (1.51 million) and Lebanon (1.15 million), while over half of the world's refugee population came from Syria, Afghanistan and Somalia.
In light of the increasingly desperate situation, Guterres called for the creation of synergies between development and humanitarian efforts.
"Humanitarian and development efforts need to be the two faces of the same coin to be able to address the problems of populations in distress but also those communities who are supporting them," he said, calling for all countries to respect the 1951 Refugee Convention.
