7 in 10 Refugees Experience Protracted Displacement, UNHCR Chief Calls for Strengthened Action on Solutions

Siblings who returned home to Afghanistan. Despite experiencing numerous difficulties, the family supports each other with strong bonds and takes a powerful step forward. © UNHCR/Oxygen Empire Media Production

GENEVA – UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi presented the UNHCR’s annual statistical report, 'Global Trends Report,' today. The report reveals that while the total number of people forcibly displaced worldwide dropped for the first time in a decade, it remains at an unacceptably high level.

In 2025, 5.4 million people were forced to cross borders to flee violence and persecution. Conversely, return movements accelerated in 2025, with 14.7 million people returning to their home regions or countries. This includes 4.4 million refugees and 10.3 million internally displaced persons (IDPs), with significant increases reported in Afghanistan, Sudan, and Syria. Refugee returns reached the second-highest level since records began 60 years ago, though many were compelled to return under extremely fragile conditions.

Overall, the global number of refugees in 2025 was 41.6 million, a 3% decrease from the previous year. On a positive note, approximately 46,000 stateless people acquired nationality in 24 countries.

With 70% of refugees facing protracted displacement and many living below the poverty line, High Commissioner Grandi called for international support for new initiatives to help millions of people move beyond reliance on humanitarian aid.

'Even if refugees initially choose to flee as a means of saving their lives, many remain in displacement for a long time. Humanitarian aid saves lives, but it is not enough to help refugees forge their own future. We need a shift in thinking to bring new hope and opportunities to those fleeing conflict and persecution,' Grandi stated.

Grandi outlined an intent to improve the prospects of millions by setting a clear, measurable goal: to reduce the number of refugees living in protracted displacement and relying on humanitarian aid by more than half over the next decade. This goal focuses on low- and middle-income countries that host the majority of refugees, aiming to achieve it by expanding opportunities for return, third-country resettlement, and humanitarian visas, while transitioning from traditional aid to support that fosters self-reliance.

As 2026 marks the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, UNHCR continues to call upon governments, humanitarian and development agencies, the private sector, and civil society to expand initiatives that support refugee capacity-building while maintaining essential asylum and protection.

Grandi stated that the necessary path to achieving this ambitious goal is to ensure refugees can earn their own income and live above the poverty line in their respective host countries without relying on humanitarian aid.

Above all, voluntary return must remain the most important solution. If even some of the world's major conflicts can be resolved, millions more refugees will be able to return home safely and with dignity.

Another pillar for achieving the goal is integrating refugees into national systems, enabling them to contribute to local communities and national economies through education, healthcare, financial services, and labor markets. This requires increased investment from various partners in refugee-hosting countries that bear heavy burdens.

Finally, Grandi emphasized the urgent need to expand solutions in countries of asylum. This includes expanding third-country resettlement for the most vulnerable, family reunification, and access to work permits and scholarships, yet the gap between available places and actual needs continues to widen. According to the report, only 81,800 refugees were accepted through third-country resettlement or sponsorship programs in 2025, a decrease of more than half compared to the previous year.

'Asylum and protection save lives, and there is no debate about that. However, we cannot accept a future where millions of refugees are forced into years or decades of displacement without a realistic prospect of rebuilding their lives. We have now set an ambitious, achievable, and quantifiable goal to encourage self-reliance and lead lives in a better direction. UNHCR is strengthening collaboration across society to tackle this challenge and ensure that millions of people end the cycles of protracted displacement.'