Conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan Drive Up World Refugee Numbers

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By Sonja Pace
London
17 June 2008
The U.N. refugee agency says the number of people fleeing violence andrepression worldwide has risen to 11.4 million, largely due to theconflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. VOA's Sonja Pace reports fromLondon on UNHCR's status report for 2007.

WhileAfghanistan, Iraq and the Darfur region of Sudan are highly publicizedhotspots, UNHCR's Guterres says many other refugees are created bylesser known conflicts and hardships - often forgotten by theinternational community.

"And looking only at one continentAfrica, we have been having since the beginning of the year, withpeople crossing their borders in big numbers, in thousands we arehaving new arrivals of Darfurians in Chad and Central African Republic,of Chadians in Cameroon, of Central African Republicans in Chad and inCameroon, of Eritreans in Sudan and in Ethiopia, of Somalis in Yemen,in Kenya, in Djibouti, we have Kenyans crossing the border into Ugandaand we are now witnessing the worsening situation in Zimbabwe," hesaid. "Now, this demonstrates a trend that represents a multiplicationof crises, with more and more people on the move."

The U.N.agency says global refugee numbers had fallen for five years beforerising again in 2006 and 2007. While conflicts are largely to blame,UNHCR says climate change, the rise in energy and food prices andensuing poverty are also factors.

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