We hear stories every day of refugees trying to enter Europe, but now a new report reveals the scale of the problem of people fleeing violence and murder in their own countries.
The number of people displaced within their own countries was the worst in a generation last year, but there is little sign of governments taking action to deal with the problem, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.
"Every single day last year 30,000 men, women and children were forced out of their homes because of conflict and violence," the agency's Secretary General Jan Egeland said.
The total number of displaced people in their own countries reached a record 38 million. This figure does not include those who fled abroad. Mr Egeland said, however, that many of today’s displaced people become tomorrow’s refugees.
Six out of every 10 people displaced in 2014 were in just five countries: Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria.
Syria was now "the number one displacement country of this generation", with 7.6 million internally displaced and 4 million refugees, but stopping the problem was possible, Egeland said.
"It's as difficult and as simple to say United States, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey: you have to sit down and send one signal into this conflict: stop it. You have to get your side to go to the negotiating table, and not just talk about the other side."
Comments
http://www.sipri.org/googlemaps/2014_of_at_top_20_exp_map.html
So stopping wars is not in their interests. Constant instability is. A bit like handing a countries drug control policy to the main drug running and manufacturing crime families. Then expecting illegal drug use to be 'stamped out'.
The only glimmer of hope is that the US policy of keeping Israel as top dog in the Middle East is at risk due to the huge amount of arms sold into the region.
Meaning that Saudi Arabia amongst others is now confident enough to be starting its own regional war in the Yemen (Ok a proxy Irainian War) using this material.
And Russia and China continuing to support various interests of their own. Which must make the Israeli's twitchy - so will at least force the big 6 to stop and think. Maybe.