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| Number of People Displaced by Violence Highest in 20 Years, Agency Says | Number of People Displaced by Violence Highest in 20 Years, Agency Says |
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| GENEVA — The number of people forced to flee from their homes by violence has reached the highest level in 20 years, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council said on Wednesday, criticizing the failure of global powers to take timely preventive action. | GENEVA — The number of people forced to flee from their homes by violence has reached the highest level in 20 years, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council said on Wednesday, criticizing the failure of global powers to take timely preventive action. |
| More than 33 million people were displaced within their countries as a result of conflict by the start of this year, said Jan Egeland, the head of the council and a former humanitarian affairs chief for the United Nations, as he presented an annual assessment by the agency’s Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Center. | More than 33 million people were displaced within their countries as a result of conflict by the start of this year, said Jan Egeland, the head of the council and a former humanitarian affairs chief for the United Nations, as he presented an annual assessment by the agency’s Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Center. |
| “We have surpassed the darkest, bleakest days of the 1990s,” which were overshadowed by genocide in Rwanda and war in the Balkans, Mr. Egeland said in an interview. | “We have surpassed the darkest, bleakest days of the 1990s,” which were overshadowed by genocide in Rwanda and war in the Balkans, Mr. Egeland said in an interview. |
| The pace of displacement is accelerating, he added, with more than eight million people newly displaced in 2013, nearly a quarter more than the number of people newly displaced in the previous year. | The pace of displacement is accelerating, he added, with more than eight million people newly displaced in 2013, nearly a quarter more than the number of people newly displaced in the previous year. |
| “You become angry,” Mr. Egeland said. “This could all have been prevented. These are not tsunami victims, these are victims of man-made conflict.” He underlined the vulnerability of people displaced within countries where conflicts are raging, in contrast to those who escape to other countries, where they become refugees and can have more access to aid and protection. | |
| Close to half of those displaced in 2013 were in Syria, which remains the biggest displacement crisis in the world. | Close to half of those displaced in 2013 were in Syria, which remains the biggest displacement crisis in the world. |
| The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center calculated that in Syria about 9,500 people are forced by violence from their homes every day, including one family every 60 seconds. Those numbers exposed “an astronomic failure of humanity, nationally and internationally,” Mr. Egeland said, condemning the inertia on Syria at the United Nations Security Council. Humanitarian relief agencies “are picking up the bill” because of the paralysis at the Security Council, he said. | The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center calculated that in Syria about 9,500 people are forced by violence from their homes every day, including one family every 60 seconds. Those numbers exposed “an astronomic failure of humanity, nationally and internationally,” Mr. Egeland said, condemning the inertia on Syria at the United Nations Security Council. Humanitarian relief agencies “are picking up the bill” because of the paralysis at the Security Council, he said. |
| The monitoring center’s report also revealed a hitherto unseen crisis of displacement in Nigeria, where figures provided by the government for the first time show that close to half a million people were displaced by conflict in 2013, bringing the total number of Nigerians who have fled violence or the fear of violence to 3.3 million. | The monitoring center’s report also revealed a hitherto unseen crisis of displacement in Nigeria, where figures provided by the government for the first time show that close to half a million people were displaced by conflict in 2013, bringing the total number of Nigerians who have fled violence or the fear of violence to 3.3 million. |
| Attacks by the Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram, which have stirred international outrage since the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls a month ago, accounted for most of the new displacement in 2013, but the center’s report showed that most of Nigeria’s displaced were fugitives from other intercommunal and sectarian conflicts. “There are concerns that the violence may increase as the 2015 elections draw nearer and political allegiances shift,” the report said. | Attacks by the Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram, which have stirred international outrage since the abduction of more than 200 schoolgirls a month ago, accounted for most of the new displacement in 2013, but the center’s report showed that most of Nigeria’s displaced were fugitives from other intercommunal and sectarian conflicts. “There are concerns that the violence may increase as the 2015 elections draw nearer and political allegiances shift,” the report said. |
| More than three-quarters of those displaced in 2013 were in just five countries. Alongside Syria and Nigeria, these included Central African Republic; the Democratic Republic of Congo, where, after 15 years of various insurgencies, a million people were forced to flee violence last year; and Sudan, where close to half a million fled new waves of violence in a decade-old conflict. | More than three-quarters of those displaced in 2013 were in just five countries. Alongside Syria and Nigeria, these included Central African Republic; the Democratic Republic of Congo, where, after 15 years of various insurgencies, a million people were forced to flee violence last year; and Sudan, where close to half a million fled new waves of violence in a decade-old conflict. |
| Mr. Egeland said that aid agencies were much better at keeping people alive than they were a decade ago, but that the international community was still “strikingly deficient” at preventing conflict and its consequences. | Mr. Egeland said that aid agencies were much better at keeping people alive than they were a decade ago, but that the international community was still “strikingly deficient” at preventing conflict and its consequences. |
| “This needs to change,” António Guterres, the head of the United Nations refugee agency said on Wednesday at a joint news conference with Mr. Egeland. “If not, there will be no way in which the humanitarian community will be able to respond to these dramatic needs of such a large and growing number of people.” | “This needs to change,” António Guterres, the head of the United Nations refugee agency said on Wednesday at a joint news conference with Mr. Egeland. “If not, there will be no way in which the humanitarian community will be able to respond to these dramatic needs of such a large and growing number of people.” |