United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has called on the international community to step up development assistance along with humanitarian assistance to refugees.
In an interview marking the World Refugee Day that fell on Friday, Grandi briefed China Central Television in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the dire humanitarian situation faced by tens of millions of displaced people in Africa.
"Africa hosts more than 40 million refugees or internally displaced people -- these are like refugees, but they don't cross borders. This is one third of the total displaced population in the world, which is about 122 million," Grandi said.
He then explained how multiple factors are forcing many African people to flee their homes.
"That's a very high figure. And why? Because of so many conflicts. You have the Sudan War. You have war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. You have many conflicts in the Sahel region in West Africa. You have political tensions in places like South Sudan, fragility in places like Somalia. It is also violations of human rights. And it is also other phenomena like climate change that is putting a lot of pressure on poor communities throughout the continent. All of these situations push people to move from their homes. And when they can, they cross borders and become refugees," Grandi said.
The UN refugee chief stressed the need to provide these populations with both humanitarian aid and all-round development assistance, urging for strengthened efforts by the international community.
"So it's a very dramatic situation that requires all sorts of different responses, including humanitarian assistance for those that are in need, life-saving assistance, but also development assistance in order to stabilize these populations," Grandi said.
"When refugees are in a country for 10 years, 20 years, you cannot simply give them food and give them some water and some medicines. You have to give them opportunities so they stabilize, they can have access to schools, to health care, to work, to security. This is development. This is the World Bank, this is international financial institutions and bilateral organizations that must step up their help in areas that host refugees," he said.
UN refugee chief calls for more development assistance to refugees
