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Democracy NowMAY 2022
Report: Nearly 76M Internally Displaced Worldwide
Image copyright: Alexi Rosenfeld/Contributor/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
The global internally displaced and refugee population has surged in recent years due to increasing violence and human rights abuses. Many states are reducing humanitarian aid and adopting tough stances on the most vulnerable people, shirking responsibility. Every refugee or IDP represents a failure to ensure peace and security. By working together, such crises can be managed and alleviated. Everyone has a role to play in this collective effort.
Narrative B
The assertion of a record number of displaced people is potentially misleading. Up to 200M people were displaced during World War II, dwarfing current figures. Historical displacement data is incomplete. Today, the proportion of displaced relative to the global population is lower, and support systems are stronger. Highlighting "record" displacement may cause helplessness or anti-immigrant sentiment, simplifying complex issues and reducing lives to statistics.