Worldwide Number of Internally
Displaced Persons Surpasses Number of Refugees
Sudan has over four million internally
displaced persons, the highest number in the world, according to the World
Refugee Survey. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) are civilians who have
been forced by persecution or armed conflict to flee their homes, but remain
within their own country. Years of warfare in Sudan have led to the high
number of IDPs.
In 1997, the number of internally displaced persons in the world surpassed the number of refugees. According to the World Refugee Survey, released today by the U.S. Committee for Refugees, there were over 17 million internally displaced people in 1997, compared with 13.6 million refugees.
"Sudan is a case study in the dangers that can come from having a high number of internally displaced persons," said Roger Winter, Executive Director of the U.S. Committee for Refugees. "The current famine conditions in Sudan are directly related to the displacement of over four million civilians." In Sudan, 2.6 million people are at risk of dying from famine conditions. In the capital city of Khartoum, government officials have forcibly relocated three-quarters of a million people since 1992. In the Nuba Mountains area of central Sudan, thousands of ethnic Nuba occupy special government-controlled camps (described as "concentration camps" by international human rights groups), where they are subject to forced labor and sexual abuse.
Information on the numbers of refugees and IDPs in Sudan and over 120 countries around the world was released today in the 1998 World Refugee Survey. The World Refugee Survey has been published annually by the U.S. Committee for Refugees since 1965.
For the first time ever, the World Refugee Survey is also available on the World Wide Web at www.refugees.org. Individual country reports, as well as detailed statistical information on refugees, IDPs and asylum-seekers, can be accessed.
A free copy of the World Refugee Survey is available to reporters. Contact Gabrielle Bushman at (202) 347-3507 with your request.
The U.S. Committee for Refugees is a humanitarian, nongovernmental organization that defends the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and displaced people worldwide.