Inspiring Hope for Refugees

Venezuela has traditionally been a generous host to refugees from other countries, but it is now facing one of the largest displacement crises in the world. Nearly 8 million Venezuelan refugees, migrants and asylum-seekers have fled their homes to escape violence, insecurity and lack of food, medicine and essential services. In the first nine months of 2023, more than 400,000 people crossed through the Darien jungle, one of the world’s most dangerous refugee and migrant routes marking the border between Colombia and Panama. Venezuelans made up 63 percent of the crossings.

After more than a decade of violent conflict, the Syrian refugee crisis is more protracted than ever, with Syrians making up the largest refugee population globally. Since 2011, nearly 14 million Syrians have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety. In February 2023, two powerful earthquakes struck south-eastern Türkiye and northern Syria, claiming thousands of lives and causing untold destruction to homes and infrastructure across the region. This is a crisis on top of existing crises already impacting displaced Syrians.

After years of devastating conflict, Yemen remains one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. More than 23 million people depend on humanitarian assistance to survive and the country has the fourth-largest IDP population in the world. The country is on the brink of famine, with 80 percent of Yemenis living below the poverty line and 3.8 million IDPs estimated to be highly food insecure.

The Sahel region of Africa is facing one of the fastest-growing displacement crises in the world. The region comprises Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger—countries where violent insurgencies and attacks by armed groups have driven internal displacement in the hundreds of thousands. The effects of climate change heavily impact the Sahel by intensifying tensions over resources, exacerbating conflicts and displacement.

In April 2023, violent clashes erupted between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan, resulting in the displacement of more than 10.8 million people, including internally displaced people (IDPs), asylum seekers and refugees by the end of 2023. This conflict exacerbated many of Sudan’s existing challenges, including ongoing conflicts, disease outbreaks, economic and political instability and climate emergencies.

Since violence broke out in August 2017, more than 1.3 million Rohingya have been displaced from Myanmar and forced to seek refuge elsewhere. In May 2023, Cyclone Mocha hit Bangladesh and Myanmar — one of the strongest cyclones ever to hit the region. More than 10 million people were impacted by Cyclone Mocha in both Bangladesh and Myanmar. The Rohingya remain the world’s largest stateless population.

After more than four decades of conflict, the Afghanistan refugee crisis remains one of the largest and most protracted humanitarian and displacement crises. The severe economic situation, high levels of poverty and natural disasters (drought and floods) are contributing to the humanitarian crisis. In October 2023, a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Herat Province in western Afghanistan, followed by several powerful aftershocks. The deadly earthquake claimed thousands of lives and destroyed or severely damaged more than 30,000 homes. 

Ethiopia is the third largest refugee-hosting country in Africa, generously sheltering hundreds of thousands of refugees from neighboring countries. The ongoing conflict in the Tigray region of Ethiopia is driving millions of people to flee their homes.

One year after the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine, millions of Ukrainians remained displaced from their homes. By the end of 2023, nearly 4 million people were internally displaced within Ukraine and more than 6 million were forced to cross into neighboring countries in the region, including Poland, Hungary, Moldova and other countries across Europe. 

The displacement situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the most complex and long-standing humanitarian crisis in Africa and one of the largest internally displaced persons (IDP) crises in the world. Fighting has been ongoing since the DRC gained its independence in 1960.