Despite the Pandemic, the Number of People Fleeing Wars, Violence and Human Rights Violations Rose in 2020 to More than 82 Million

Congolese asylum-seekers await health screening in Zombo, near the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, in July 2020.  © UNHCR/Rocco Nuri

(UNHCR)* — UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, on 18 June 2021 urged world leaders to step up their efforts to foster peace, stability and cooperation in order to halt and begin reversing nearly a decade-long trend of surging displacement driven by violence and persecution.