Forced Displacement Falls for First Time in a Decade

The number of people forced to flee their homes because of war and persecution fell in 2025 for the first time in a decade, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR). The decline was driven mainly by a sharp rise in returns, with 14.7 million refugees and internally displaced people going back to their places of origin.

The biggest shifts were recorded in Afghanistan and Syria. Some 2.9 million people returned to Afghanistan, many of them forced back by tougher measures in Iran and Pakistan.

Syria has seen about 1.3 million people return since the fall of the Bashar Assad regime. UNHCR warned, however, that return does not always mean a return to normal life.

Many returnees face destroyed infrastructure, limited services and continued insecurity. The agency also warned that new conflicts were already affecting the trend this year, with millions of people temporarily displaced in Iran and Lebanon.

(reuters, mja)