YAOUNDE, Cameroon – More than 32 million Africans are either internally displaced, refugees, or asylum seekers—up from 29 million a year ago, according to the Africa Center for Strategic Studies (ACSS).
It said Africa is experiencing another record year of forced displacement. This continues a steady upward trend seen since 2011.
10 African countries account for 88 % (28 million) of all forcibly displaced people on the continent. Each of these top 10 countries of origin are in conflict.
The conflicts represent a combination of government repression against citizens, extremist group violence, and the militarization of politics. Seven of the ten have governments that are autocratically leaning, according to ACSS.
Of the 32 million forcibly displaced, three-quarters are internally displaced (24 million IDPs) meaning that most displaced Africans have fled to the first safe refuge. Sometimes this involves crossing a border. Most of the time it does not, ACSS said.
By Rodrigue Forku
