Facts & Figures
65 million people are forcibly displaced worldwide:
21.3 million refugees,
40.8 million internally displaced - 1.8 million seeking asylum.
Largest sources of refugees: Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, South Sudan , Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Key messages
The number of forcibly displaced people (refugees and internally displaced people) has continued to rise alarmingly in 2015 and 2016, calling for increased humanitarian assistance worldwide.
The EU is a leading international donor for refugees. It gave €1.064 million for humanitarian assistance dedicated to refugees and IDPs financial year 2015, as well as €200 million in ongoing projects from development assistance. The funding covers projects that help in access to shelter, protection, food and other basic services such as health, nutrition, water, sanitation, hygiene and education.
Humanitarian aid aims at upholding basic human rights and protecting children and adults against violence, abuse and exploitation through protection and advocacy activities.
In April 2016, the European Commission, in association with the European External Action Service (EEAS), adopted a new development-led approach to forced displacement, aimed at harnessing and strengthening the resilience and self-reliance of both the forcibly displaced and their host communities. Political, economic, development and humanitarian actors should be engaged from the outset and throughout displacement crises to work with third partner countries towards gradual socio-economic inclusion of the forcibly displaced. The objective is to end forced displacement and make people's lives better and more dignified during displacement.
