COPENHAGEN, March 14, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Wars and attacks on civilians are
expected to drive 6.7 million people from their homes worldwide over the next
two years, humanitarian organisation the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) said
Friday.

But the DRC said the "devastating" withdrawal of international aid by the
United States, UK and Germany has left millions of vulnerable people without
essential support.

"We live in an age of war and impunity, and civilians are paying the heaviest
price," DRC secretary general Charlotte Slente said in a statement.

The number of displaced people worldwide was currently 122.6 million, the DRC
said.

The organisation said its Global Displacement Forecast showed a "staggering
spike" of 4.2 million people was expected in 2025 -- the highest forecasted
by DRC since 2021.

Another 2.5 million forced displacements were expected in 2026.

Civil wars in Sudan and Myanmar will account for nearly half of all projected
displacements.

Sudan -- "the world's most urgent humanitarian crisis" -- will account for
nearly a third of new displacements, it said, noting that 12.6 million people
had already been displaced inside Sudan and to neighbouring countries.

"Starvation has been used as a weapon of war, pushing the country from one
catastrophic famine to another," the report said.

In Myanmar, a multi-front civil war has intensified and resulted in 3.5
million people displaced, and nearly 20 million people, or a third of the
population, is in need of humanitarian assistance, DRC said.

It predicted the country would see another 1.4 million forced displacements
by the end of 2026.

Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Yemen and Venezuela
were also expected to see a surge in displacements due to armed conflict,
climate change, the legacy of war, and socio-economic instability.

Of the 6.7 million people forecasted to be displaced by the end of 2026, some
70 percent will be internally displaced, DRC said.

DRC's Slente blasted US President Donald Trump's decision to cancel 83
percent of USAID's humanitarian aid programmes around the world as a
"betrayal of the most vulnerable".

"We're in the middle of a global 'perfect storm': record displacement,
surging needs, and devastating funding cuts," she said.

"Major donors are abandoning their duty, leaving millions to suffer. This is
more than a crisis. It is a moral failure."