A staggering total of 120 million people are living forcibly displaced by war, violence and persecution, the UN said Thursday, branding the ever-increasing number a “terrible indictment on the state of the world”.
The United Nations’ refugee agency UNHCR said forced displacement globally had once again smashed records, with conflicts in places like Gaza, Sudan and Myanmar forcing even more people to flee their homes.
The global displaced population is now equivalent to that of Japan, it pointed out in a statement.
“Conflict remains a very, very big driver of mass displacement,” UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi told reporters.
At the end of last year, 117.3 million people were displaced, UNHCR said in a report.
And by the end of April, the number had swelled further, with an estimated 120 million people around the world living in displacement.
The number is up from 110 million a year ago, and has been rising for 12 consecutive years — nearly tripling since 2012 amid a combination of new and mutating crises and a failure to resolve long-standing ones, UNHCR said.
Grandi told AFP he had been shocked at the high displacement figure when he took the job eight years ago.
Since then it has “more than doubled”, he said, describing this as “a terrible indictment on the state of the world”.
– Figures will keep rising –
Grandi pointed to a palpable increase in crises, and also highlighted how climate change is impacting population movement and driving conflicts.
UNHCR last year declared 43 emergencies across 29 countries — more than four times what was common just a few years ago, he told reporters.
In particular, Grandi noted “the way conflicts are conducted … in complete disregard” of international law, and “often with the specific purpose of terrorising people”.
“This of course is a powerful contributor to more displacement.”
Grandi acknowledged there currently seemed to be little hope of bucking the trend.
“Unless there is a shift in international geopolitics, unfortunately, I actually see the figure continuing to go up,” he said.
Of the 117.3 million displaced at the end of 2023, 68.3 million people were internally displaced within their own country, Thursday’s report showed.
The number of refugees and others in need of international protection meanwhile climbed to 43.4 million, it said.
UNHCR countered the perception that all refugees and other migrants go to wealthy countries.
“The vast majority of refugees are hosted in countries neighbouring their own, with 75 per cent residing in low- and middle-income countries that together produce less than 20 per cent of the world’s income,” it said.
– ‘Human tragedies’ –
Sudan’s civil war has been a key factor driving up the numbers.
Since the war broke out in April 2023 between rival generals, it has displaced more than nine million more people, leaving nearly 11 million Sudanese uprooted at the end of 2023, UNHCR said.
The numbers were still rising. Grandi pointed to the many still fleeing to neighbouring Chad, which has received some 600,000 Sudanese in the past 14 months.
“Hundreds and hundreds every day are crossing from one devastated country to one of the poorest countries in the world,” he told AFP.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo and Myanmar, millions more people were also internally displaced last year by vicious fighting.
And in the Gaza Strip, the UN estimates 1.7 million people — 75 per cent of the population — have been displaced by the war sparked eight months ago by Hamas’s October 7 attack inside Israel.
As for the war raging in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the UN estimated that around 750,000 people became newly displaced inside the country last year, with a total of 3.7 million internally displaced people registered by the end of 2023.
The number of Ukrainian refugees and asylum-seekers increased by over 275,000 to six million, it said.
Syria remains the world’s largest displacement crisis, with 13.8 million people forcibly displaced inside and outside the country, UNHCR said.
AFP
Chelsea reliable defender, Marc Cucurella may join Spanish giant, Real Madrid before the end of the current transfer window.if information from transfer journalist, Fabrizio Romano are anything to go by.
Romano In a latest transfer update, said Real Madrid has reached verbal agreement to sign Marc Cucurella from Chelsea.
“Verbal agreement in place between all parties, player too — he’s the left back wanted by Mourinho” the update read.
Carlo Ancelotti felt Brazil were “anxious” in their World Cup opener against Morocco, as he suggested the pressure got to his players.
Brazil were largely underwhelming at New York New Jersey Stadium, as they opened their Group C campaign with a 1-1 draw.
World Cup 2022 semi-finalists Morocco made a fine start, which was capped off when Ismael Saibari charged through in the 21st minute and lofted a cute finish over Alisson.
With the unfit Neymar watching on from the bench, Vinicius Junior slammed home a brilliant equaliser 11 minutes later, but Brazil could not find a way through Morocco’s defence for a second time.
In fact, Brazil relied on a sharp double save from Alisson late on to preserve a point, and Ancelotti knows there is plenty of scope for improvement.
“I think it was a tough match, especially in the first half,” Ancelotti said, as reported by ESPN
“Maybe the team was a bit anxious, and the nerves were all over the place. The second half was better, but it was still tough, and I’m sure we’ll get better.
“I think that’s something we’ll have to look into.
“There’s a lot of pressure, so it’s natural. Little by little, we’ll improve in that sense.”
Brazil are, at least, unbeaten in their opening match in the last 21 World Cups dating back to 1938 (W17 D4).
It is the longest such streak in the history of the World Cup, more than twice as long as any other (Germany, Netherlands – nine straight).
“We have to reassess what we did,” Ancelotti added.
“In the first half, we were very unbalanced. We did a bit better in the second half. The result isn’t bad. You don’t win the World Cup in your first match.
“I’m not disappointed, but I’m not satisfied, either. We need to work, but that’s normal. Morocco played well. They’re a solid team, very well organised. It was a difficult game.
“For many different reasons, a debut in the World Cup might not end up as expected. The goal is to qualify, move on to the next round and improve over time.”
With uncertainty over how much Neymar will be able to contribute at this tournament, Brazil need Vinicius to step up, and the Real Madrid forward demonstrated his quality with a wonderful run and finish to restore parity.
It marked Vinicius’ 10th goal for Brazil, with three of those coming on American soil.
“We started on a really bad note,” Vinicius said. “For certain, we got to hold on to the ball. We have to move better.”
According to The Athletic, Yamal will not wear the No. 10 jersey for Spain; it will belong to teammate Olmo.
Pelé, Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane, Messi, and Roberto Baggio have all delivered superstar-level performances at the FIFA World Cup.
What do they have in common? They all wore the No. 10 jersey at the time.
Historically, this number typically belongs to the most creative player on the team, usually an attacking midfielder, and sometimes even a forward. It is also part of a player’s personal brand, an honor reserved for a special type of player.
Spain is one of the favorites to win this summer’s North American tournament, and there is no bigger name in the squad than Yamal. But he will not wear the No. 10 for Spain; instead, he will wear No. 19, the same number he wore in the summer of 2024 when he helped Spain win the European Championship in Germany.
So, why can’t the 18-year-old, who wears this legendary number at Barcelona—a number most easily associated with the club’s all-time leading goal scorer and appearance record holder Messi—enjoy the same treatment with the Spanish national team?
Spain’s No. 10 this summer will be Olmo, who is also one of Yamal’s teammates at Barcelona.
Olmo wears No. 20 at Barcelona, but for the national team, a simple factor puts him ahead of the young player when deciding numbers: seniority.
Spain’s system for assigning squad numbers dictates that the player with the most national team appearances gets priority in choosing from available numbers.
Yamal has made 25 appearances for the national team since his debut in 2023; Olmo has 50 national team appearances and was already wearing the No. 10 before Yamal joined the Spanish squad.
Yamal has proven capable of handling the challenge of wearing the No. 10 at Barcelona. When Messi left the club in a painful manner in the summer of 2021, it left Barcelona with several issues to resolve, one of which was who would inherit the No. 10 and bear the pressure of the legacy left by the Argentinian.
Ansu Fati, one of the brightest talents to emerge from Barcelona’s La Masia academy in recent years, did not succeed. After Messi’s departure, he inherited the No. 10 but suffered multiple injuries and could not meet expectations.
Barcelona sources believe that giving the number to Fati was a mistake because it placed too much pressure on the young player. Like all quoted sources in this article, they requested anonymity to protect their relationships.
But Yamal’s situation is different. He took over Fati’s No. 10 last summer and hasn’t looked back since. Last season, he achieved his career-best statistics, scoring 24 goals and providing 17 assists in 45 games.
Not wearing the Spanish No. 10 has also not affected Yamal’s progress with the national team.
This is not seen as a problem, but rather as part of the young player’s development. Everyone in the Spanish squad understands the rules, and sources close to Yamal and the team insist that Yamal holds no resentment towards Olmo.
It can also be argued that, besides international recognition, there are commercial factors for jersey numbers that should not be overlooked. Giving Yamal the No. 10 would certainly boost sales of the Spanish team’s jerseys and bring a more significant commercial impact from the star player.
However, respect among teammates, especially for more senior players, is a key tenet for Spain’s coach Luis de la Fuente and the foundation of the culture he is building for this Spanish team.
No individual is important enough to be above this team spirit, not even Yamal. The young player is considered the most important attacking player for Spain and is highly respected in the locker room, but breaking the seniority policy to take a teammate’s number is simply not allowed in this team.
Gavi should also be mentioned. The 21-year-old player has primarily played as a central midfielder for Barcelona this season, even playing as a defensive midfielder, but he will wear No. 9 for Spain, a number more commonly associated with central forwards.
There’s a story behind this too. When Gavi made his Spain debut in 2021, No. 9 was the last available number when he chose.
That year, he made his debut in the Nations League semi-final win against Italy, with an impressive performance, and Gavi has stuck with that number ever since. Whenever the national team’s No. 9 is available, he always chooses it.
Spain’s starting forward Oyarzabal actually began his career as a winger, but he has always chosen No. 21 and decided to keep this number throughout his national team career.
Another forward included in Luis de la Fuente’s FIFA World Cup squad, Celta player Borja Iglesias, has 8 national team appearances, fewer than Gavi’s 30, so he cannot get the No. 9.
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