With the headline “In fuga per forza“ [In flight through force], L’Osservatore Romano devoted the most prominent front-page coverage in its June 14 edition to a UN report on the rising number of victims of forced displacement.
“At the end of 2022, 108.4 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order,” according to the report from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.
“This represents an increase of 19 million people compared to the end of 2021 … the largest ever increase between years according to UNHCR’s statistics on forced displacement.”
The UN agency’s statement on the report noted that “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was the top driver of displacement in 2022. The number of refugees soared from 27,300 at the end of 2021, to 5.7 million at the end of 2022—representing the fastest outflow of refugees anywhere since World War II.”