There are twice as many internally displaced people today as there were ten years ago - the largest numbers ever recorded, said Special Advisor on Solutions to Internal Displacement Robert Piper, on Friday.
Mr. Piper said that the current global figure of 76 million represented those who have "lost their homes, livelihoods, their communities and in some cases, their legal identities, because of wars, disasters like earthquakes and floods, and other weather-related disasters."
Internally displaced people (IDPs), unlike refugees, have not crossed international borders. While some return home relatively quickly, tens of millions get trapped in long-term displacement of five to ten years or longer.
War and disaster
This protracted displacement is typically the result of conflicts and war. Meanwhile, millions more are displaced due to natural disasters as floods, storms, earthquakes, and wildfires ravage countries around the world.
