New York, NY , June 19, 2025 — On World Refugee Day, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) calls attention to a global displacement crisis that has reached continued unprecedented levels. 122.1 million people are currently fleeing from conflict and disaster worldwide — more than the populations of the United Kingdom and Spain combined.
Global displacement figures have more than doubled over the past decade. One-third of all forcibly displaced people globally originate from just four war-torn countries- Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan and Ukraine - all appearing on the IRC’s Emergency Watchlist. These states not only account for a disproportionate share of global displacement, but also share a unique vulnerability to ongoing global humanitarian funding cuts. Some of the world’s “hunger hotspots,” facing the highest rates of hunger and malnutrition in the world, like South Sudan and Occupied Palestinian Territory, are also top displacement crises. Meanwhile, 75% of climate and disaster-related displacement - already accounting for 70% of all new displacement in 2024 - took place in low and middle-income states.
Contrary to widespread opinion in wealthier nations, and despite rising numbers, 73% percent of the world’s forcibly displaced are hosted in low and middle-income countries. While internal displacement is reaching record levels -accounting for 60% of the world’s forced displacement- this means that the vast majority of displaced persons never cross an international border. And while the life-saving pathway of refugee resettlement reached new highs, less than 8% of refugees deemed in need of resettlement were actually resettled last year.
David Miliband, President and CEO of the IRC, said: “This World Refugee Day must be a turning point rather than a commemoration. It is time for new approaches to tackle the conflicts that drive refugee numbers, address the humanitarian conditions that cost refugees so dear, and support countries hosting refugees.
“There could hardly be a worse time to cut the aid budgets on which displaced people and the countries which host them depend. It is also important to sustain legal protections and pathways to protection that have rescued people from war and persecution, enriching the social, economic, and cultural fabric of the communities that welcomed them.
“We need the same urgency, resolve, vision and leadership that built these systems to renew them. Policymakers should follow the evidence, philanthropists should direct funds to areas of greatest need, and the civil society should stand up against dehumanisation and division.
“There are solutions that make sense: anticipatory action in climate hotspots, safe and legal pathways for those forced to flee, fast and effective systems to sort claims for asylum, frontline responses that deliver dignity and safety. Refugees need safety and dignity, and the world needs the courage, today more than ever, to deliver both.”
In this new era of aid, and to maintain progress with fewer resources, the IRC is calling on the international community to meet the moment: surge funding to the world’s most at-risk countries — which account for a disproportionate share of global displacement and humanitarian need — and invest in what works. This includes anticipatory actionahead of predictable extreme weather events in climate hotspots, preventing infectious disease outbreaks in crisis contexts and simplifying treatment for children facing starvation. Find out more at rescue.org.