The number of children who have had to flee world conflicts has doubled since 2010.
According to an analysis made by Tuoreen Pelastakaa Lapset ry, more than 10 million children had to flee their homes last year due to the ten biggest crises in the world. According to estimates, the total number of displaced children may have risen to a record high of more than 50 million.
Pelastakaa Lapset ry has analyzed the available data to find out how many children had to flee their homes in 2023. Although last year’s statistics will not be confirmed until later this year, Pelastakaa Lapset looked at the migration data of various parties, such as the International organization (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the latest statistics on the world’s ten largest crises.
Save the Children Association. says in his announcement that the survey shows that during the year, an estimated 10.5 million children had to move either within their own country or to another country.
The situation of children was particularly difficult in Sudan and Somalia. In 2023, approximately 4.1 million children in Sudan had to flee their homes after fighting broke out in the country last April. Most of these children have fled within the country, while around 850,000 children have sought refuge in neighboring countries.
In 2023, the second largest number of children had to flee in Somalia, mainly due to floods, droughts, conflicts and insecurity. There were up to 1.6 million runaway children.
The situation in the occupied Palestinian territory deteriorated significantly in 2023. The situation in the region was one of the five crises that caused the most refugees. According to the analysis of the Save the Children Association, approximately 890,000 children in the Gaza Strip had been displaced by December 22, 2023 after Israel launched its military operation.
At the end of last year, UNHCR considered that the number of displaced people had reached a new record. The organization’s latest estimate was that there were people who fled their homes at the end of last September more than 114 million.
According to the UN, approx 40 percent children are among those displaced. Many of them have difficulty getting to school, lack of food, and limited access to essential services, such as healthcare. Children are also at risk of becoming victims of violence and abuse.
The number of displaced children has grown significantly faster than the number of adults. The number has doubled since 2010, when there were approximately 20.6 million of these children.