Global Health G Subcommittee on Africa

Africa's Displaced People Global Health G Subcommittee on Africa

In 2014, nearly 60 million people were displaced worldwide. In fact, one out of every 122 people on Earth today is either a refugee, an internally displaced person, or seeking asylum in another country. In sub-Saharan Africa, there are more than 15 million displaced people. Of that total, 3.7 million are refugees, and 11.4 million are IDPs. These disruptions of normal life in Africa are caused by conflicts such as in Somalia, the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Burundi, Western Sahara, and elsewhere. These disruptions not only affect those who are displaced, but also the people in whose communities these displaced people are relocated. African refugees and internally displaced people face numerous issues from security in the places in which they seek refuge, to death and mayhem trying to reach places of refuge, to conflict with surrounding populations to warehousing that consigns a generation to be born and live in foreign countries.