50 million minors displaced by conflict, the highest number “in history”

The NGO Save the Children has reported that the number of children displaced by conflict in 2023 it is more than 50 million (of the 143 million displaced people), a figure that has doubled since 2010 and is already the highest “in history”and which mainly affects Sudan, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Afghanistan, Burma, Ukraine, Ethiopia, South Sudan, the Gaza Strip, Turkey and Syria (these last two due to the earthquakes), considered the ten biggest crises of the past year.

“Around the world, one in 73 people lives away from home due to forced displacementwhether due to conflict or climate-related disasters (…) Multiple displacements, in which the same child is forced to leave home again and again, are sadly the norm for many in places like Gaza, Syria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo,” said Save the Children’s Global Humanitarian Director, Gabriella Waaijman.

When minors lose access to the most basic services and begin to suffer economic difficulties, they run the risk of “devoting themselves to dangerous activities, such as delinquencyhe child laborthe sexual exploitation or incorporation into armed groups“.

“While the statistics are overwhelming, a displaced child is not just a number. He or she is a child who has most likely witnessed the kind of violence or destruction that no one should ever see before having to leave everything they know behind. When “Boys and girls lose their homes, they lose almost everything: their access to health care, education, food and security,” he added.

Despite this, the NGO has stated that children are “invisible” in displacement data, something that makes it difficult to “understand their needs” and identify “appropriate political and programmatic” responses.