Uprooted by Violence

 

A family flee the conflict in Sri Lanka between governement forces and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). [Photo: Sujeewa de Silva/NRC]

From Colombia to Sudan, the number of IDPs in conflict zones is rising. The number of people displaced due to armed conflict, violence and human rights violations increased from just over 19,000,000 in 1998 to over 26 million in 2007. That means over the last decade, people in conflict zones were joining the ranks of the world’s displaced at the rate of 100 per hour for 10 years. 

Africa is the continent hardest hit, hosting approximately half of the global IDP population. In Somalia, which has the largest number of newly displaced people, 600,000 people were forced to leave their homes in 2007 alone.  

In Colombia, armed groups have forced millions from their homes on an average of 200,000 people every year for the past 20 years. The Middle East, Asia and Europe are not immune either.  Following a spike in violence in 2006, the number of IDPs in Iraq has now risen to 2.5 million people. In the Caucasus and the Balkans thousands remain in protracted displacement, unable to secure long term solutions long after the conflict in their regions ended. 

 

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