Over 117 million people forcibly displaced in 2023: UNHCR

The United Nations Refugees Agency (UNHCR), on Thursday, released a report saying the number of people forcibly displaced towards the end of 2023 stood at a record 117.3 million. It has now warned that this figure could rise further if no major global political changes take place.

In its report on Global Trends in Displacement, UNHCR said there had been a yearly increase in the number of people forcibly displaced over the last twelve years.

UNHCR estimated that forced displacement has continued to increase in the first four months of 2024, and that is likely to have exceeded 120 million by the end of April.

“These are refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced people, people being forced by conflict, by persecution, by different and increasingly complex forms of violence,” said UNHCR head Filippo Grandi.

The conflicts that have driven displacement include the war in Sudan, which Grandi described as “one of the most catastrophic ones” despite garnering less attention than other crises.

In Gaza, Israel’s bombardment and ground campaign has caused around 1.7 million people nearly 80% of the Palestinian enclave’s population to become internally displaced, many of them multiple times.

Source: SABC

In other news –  Actor Sello Maake KaNcube (Ntate Kganyago) returns to Skeem Saam 

Skeem Saam actor Sello Maake KaNcube will return to the show to portray Ntate Kganyago. The actor Sello Maake KaNcube exited Skeem Saam in December 2022 after his character stole from his lover, Jacobeth Thobakgale (Elizabeth Serunye).

The TVSA teasers reveal that Kganyago will return on Thursday, 13 June when Rathebe (Gontshe Ntshegang) sets a trap for him. Read more