Safe havens: why cities are crucial to the global refugee crisis

06 Jun 2017

Robert MuggahResearch Director, Igarapé Institute

The world is facing unprecedented levels of population displacement. At least 65 million people are on the move, including 21.3 million refugees and 31 million internally displaced persons since the beginning of 2016. That means that one in every 100 people globally is displaced from their home. The last time humanity came even close to these levels was during the Second World War.

There is not just one global refugee crisis, but rather multiple overlapping crises. And it is not the West, but rather North Africa, the Middle East, and South and Southeast Asia that are especially affected. A new data visualization – EarthTime Lapse – captures the scale and distribution of these crises between 2001-2016. The visualization was recently exhibited at this year’s Annual Meeting in Davosand at TED2017

While it’s easy to be mesmerized by the sheer volume of population movement, it is important to recall that each dot on the screen represents remarkable stories of struggle and survival. What is missing from the visualization is also important: for every cross-border refugee, there are at least two other people who are internally displaced within their own countries as a result of war, terrorism, famine or other causes. What else does the platform reveal?

Safe havens: why cities are crucial to the global refugee crisis

Compartilhe: