1% Of The World’s Population Are Refugees As Number Of Displaced Persons Balloons, UN Agency Says
Around 1% of the world’s population is made up of asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons and refugees, the UN’s Agency for Refugees has said.
This comes after figures shot up by nine million last year, the biggest rise in the agency’s records, pushing the total number to over 79.5 million people.
More than half of the displaced people came from five countries: Myanmar, Afghanistan, Syria, South Sudan and Venezuela.
United Nations High Commissioner Of Refugees chief Filippo Grandi said that the pandemic worsened the situation for refugees and the displaced, as 164 countries either partially or totally closed their borders to fight COVID-19.
Malta declared its ports unsafe in April, banning the arrival of irregular migrants. The decision led to over 400 migrants being kept on commercial vessels in Maltese waters for over a month.
On 6th June, the vessels docked after the situation onboard become tense when migrant threatened the AFM crew.
According to UNCHR Malta, there have been at least 1,201 arrivals in Malta as of April, a third of the total amount of arrivals last year. Five were found dead in Malta’s Search and Rescue Zone.
What do you make of these figures?
READ NEXT: As Malta Marks World Refugee Day, Here's Seven Important Facts You Might Not Have Known
