News Center_ On World Refugee Day, the Uniteed Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stated that millions of women, men, and children continue to be forced to seek safety far from their homelands due to ongoing conflicts and crises.

According to the latest UNHCR data released today, Saturday, June 20, coinciding with World Refugee Day, which is observed annually on June 20, the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide reached approximately 117.3 million by mid_2025, including 42.5 million refugees and 67.8 million internally displaced persons, with children constituting around 38 percent of the total displaced population.

The data indicated that the number of forcibly displaced people recorded its first decline in over a decade, with a decrease of 5.9 million compared to the end of 2024, which UNHCR attributed to increased returns in a number of countries.

Regarding Syria, the data showed that approximately one million internally displaced persons returned to their areas between January and June 2025, in addition to the return of more than 526,000 Syrian refugees from abroad during the same period, bringing the total number of returnees from abroad to approximately one million by mid-September.

Syria also recorded the return of approximately 1.5 million refugees and internally displaced persons during the first half of 2025, making it one of the seven countries that witnessed the largest numbers of returnees during that period.

In a related context, UNHCR warned of the growing impact of climate change on displacement patterns, noting that three out of every four displaced persons live in countries facing high or severe climate risks.

The world also recorded approximately 250 million cases of internal displacement linked to climate disasters over the past decade, at a rate of nearly 70,000 cases per day, increasing pressures on host communities and multiplying the humanitarian needs of the most vulnerable groups.

According to the UN, low- and middle-income countries host approximately 68 percent of the world's refugees, while the international organization emphasizes the importance of strengthening efforts to provide protection for refugees and displaced persons and to support sustainable solutions to their situations.

World Refugee Day serves as an occasion to renew the international commitment to protecting the millions of people forced to leave their homes and to work toward providing conditions that make return to their homelands a possible and sustainable option—recognizing it as the most stable and humane solution to the displacement crisis that continues to affect millions around the world.