Strategies supporting a conceptual framework to address the needs of forced migrants

Abstract

Forced migration results from involuntary displacement that can be induced by various circumstances, such as conflict or natural disaster (Migration Data Portal, 2020). People have been internally displaced (remaining in their country of origin) or externally displaced (moving across borders) due to armed conflict, generalized violence, human rights violations, or climate change. Currently, close to 80 million people have been forced to migrate across the globe; of these, 45.7 million have been internally displaced (United Nations Refugee Agency, 2020a). The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR, 2019) indicates that 1 out of 108 persons on the globe is displaced. There has been a 50% increase in forced migrants during the past decade (ibid.). The United Nations Refugee Agency (2020b) reports that 40% of the displaced persons are children and 80% live in countries affected by malnutrition. Seventy-three percent of internationally displaced people are hosted by Turkey; other top hosting countries include Colombia, Pakistan, Uganda, and Germany (UNHCR, 2019). The main sources of the movement of these populations are Syria, Venezuela, Afghanistan, South Sudan, and Myanmar. Twelve million people had been internally displaced in the Middle East and North Africa as a result of conflict and violence by the end of 2019. Most of these people live in the Syrian Arab Republic (6.5 million), Yemen (3.6 million), and Iraq (1.6 million). A great number of children were displaced in West and Central Africa (United Nations Refugee Agency, 2020a).