World Bulletin / News Desk
The world’s forcibly displaced population rose 2.9 million last year, with a record high 68.5 million people forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, or violence, said a new UN report on Tuesday.
According to the report by the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, an estimated 16.2 million people were newly displaced last year.
Worldwide there are now some 25.4 million refugees, 40 million internally displaced people, and 3.1 million asylum-seekers, the report said.
"Significant new displacement, affecting millions of people, was seen in particular from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Myanmar as well as continuing displacement due to the Syria crisis," the report said.
By the end of 2017, about 3.1 million people were awaiting a decision on their applications for asylum, about half in developing regions.
