Migration and wars: record internal displacement in the first half of 2024, numbers continue to grow

ROMA – The conflict in Sudan, Ukraine and the Gaza Strip continues to rage; Mozambique is experiencing a new cycle of unrest and violence; in Haiti, particularly in Port-au-Prince, the guerrilla warfare between gangs for control of the territory has put thousands of people to flight: the second half of 2023 and the beginning of 2024 have demonstrated ever more clearly that no country is immune from the displacement crisis, according to the new dossier of theInternational Displacement Monitoring Center (IDMC).

The climate. From Brazil to the Horn of Africa, via Kazakhstan and Russia, floods have forced more than a million people to abandon their homes. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, recent heavy rains, combined with the ongoing conflict that is becoming increasingly violent, have forced people to flee again, some for the second or third time, and prevented humanitarian aid from reaching the most vulnerable. The challenges faced by displaced people in any country in the world can take many forms: from loss of livelihoods to food and water insecurity, from lack of safety and hygiene to exposure to contagious diseases and deteriorating mental health. Some positive signs, however, come from Bangladesh and India, where Cyclone Remal displaced 1.6 million people at the end of May, but early warning systems and international cooperation have helped to mitigate its impact.

In Sudan. The conflict between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which broke out on 15 April 2023, has displaced more than 2.2 million people internally. The fighting has since spread from Khartoum to other fronts, with the highest number of people displaced today in Al Jazirah State, particularly after the RSF took control of the capital, Wad Madani, in December. Between January and April, approximately 392,000 people were displaced in this part of Sudan. The SAF and RSF have also fought over control of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, where 329,000 people were displaced between early April and late June. Fighting then spread to Sennar State in late June, displacing a further 57,000 people. Sennar was already home to more than half a million people, most of them from Al Jazirah and Khartoum. In total, Sudan had an estimated 10.6 million internally displaced people at the end of June, the highest figure ever recorded for a single country.

The Gaza. By the end of June, the conflict had turned 1.9 million people into internally displaced persons. In the Gaza Strip, bombs have forced residents to flee again and again, but as the UN has repeatedly stressed since January: “there is no safe place in Gaza.” The military operation in Rafah in May, which was already home to 1.4 million people from the northern Gaza Strip, displaced a total of around 1.3 million people. Fighting also broke out in the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip in May, displacing another 100,000 people. Many people fleeing these large-scale operations have moved to Khan Younis. The expansion of the ground operations and repeated evacuation orders have complicated the delivery of humanitarian aid and exacerbated the already dire living conditions of internally displaced persons across the Strip. Since mid-June, the entire territory has been in a state of emergency due to food insecurity. In the West Bank, amid restrictions on movement, economic constraints, and the demolition of homes by settlers and Israeli security forces, the number of displaced people has more than doubled since October 7: nearly 1,400 in the first half of the year.

In Mozambique. The northern province of Cabo Delgado has seen a new wave of displacement in the first half of 2024 due to the intensification of violence by the Islamic State. The terrorists entered Chiúre on February 3, targeted villages inhabited by Christian communities, killed about 70 people and burned 500 churches, homes, schools and government buildings. At the end of June, Mozambique had about 592,000 displaced people, the majority of whom are women and children.