One of the more tragic states of human existence is being forced to leave home with neither provision nor guarantee of ever returning – or knowing if that home will still be standing if there ever is a return.
With each passing year, and with several conflicts and disasters continuing to destroy millions of homes around the world, the number of people forcibly displaced is higher than it has ever been.
At the end of last year, it was about 76 million people across 116 countries, a record figure fuelled by war in sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, a report by the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre found.
As reported in The National, Sudan has six million people, the second-highest number of internally displaced people in one country. The Russian invasion forced 16.9 million people from their homes in Ukraine, and 7.2 million Syrians have been displaced by 13 years of civil war. Some are displaced in their own countries, while others become refugees in neighbouring or third countries.
Gaza, meanwhile, had close to one fifth of all conflict displacements last year after Israel began its war against Hamas, with most of the territory’s population of more than 2.3 million people forcibly displaced since fighting began on October 7.
Just this month, with 800,000 people having been forced to flee Rafah since Israel began military operations, calling the forced displacement of Palestinians anything other than what it is minimises the scale of the catastrophe. The Israeli authorities would have the world believe its preferred term – “evacuation” – but this is simply an attempt to camouflage a disaster of its own making.
When bombs are being dropped on civilian populations, every family's survival instinct is to find safety, and forced displacement becomes the label on their situation. All too often, people who are forced from their homes also become invisible and merge into a data set of IDP – internally displaced people within their country.
These are profound failures of conflict prevention and peacemaking at an international level. An already dire situation is worsened by a significant lack of funds: although worldwide forced displacement is at a record high, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, last year received funding to cover just 32 per cent of its global budget. The International Organisation for Migration in its first ever Global Annual Appeal this year called for $7.9 billion, including for solutions for displacement crises.
Several aid organisations are right in calling for non-specified funding. This comes free of conditions spelling out the exact aid for which they must be used. Not tying aid exclusively to, say, medicine or food or clean water allows relief organisations to be flexible in their response to the crisis. In Sudan, for example, the UNHCR was able to use non-specified funding to provide materials that secure tents against strong winds.
In Sudan, for example, UNHCR was able to make use of un-earmarked funding to provide materials that secure tents against strong winds. In Yemen, cooking utensils, soap and cash assistance were made available to displaced people, and Ethiopian families have been helped via such funding to receive blankets, sleeping mats and solar lanterns. It is important for donors to see this type of flexible funding as vital and effective to humanitarian work.
It goes without saying that transparency and accountability are prerequisites for aid organisations to receive un-earmarked donations. But there is little argument that they go a long way in helping people survive and affording them a modicum of dignity even as they remain without a home.
As is often the case, underfunding hits the poorer and lower-middle income countries hardest. And these are countries that host 90 per cent of forcibly displaced and stateless people worldwide.
The international community's foremost priority should continue to be to find diplomatic solutions to end conflicts. But it shouldn't lose sight of the pressing need to support humanitarian operations around the world. It remains imperative that stakeholders, international organisations and governments do all that they can to support the millions of families who struggle every day in the unenviable circumstance of forced displacement.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
Mobile phone packages comparison
The specs
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 575bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: Dh554,000
On sale: now
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
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If you go
Flight connections to Ulaanbaatar are available through a variety of hubs, including Seoul and Beijing, with airlines including Mongolian Airlines and Korean Air. While some nationalities, such as Americans, don’t need a tourist visa for Mongolia, others, including UAE citizens, can obtain a visa on arrival, while others including UK citizens, need to obtain a visa in advance. Contact the Mongolian Embassy in the UAE for more information.
Nomadic Road offers expedition-style trips to Mongolia in January and August, and other destinations during most other months. Its nine-day August 2020 Mongolia trip will cost from $5,250 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, two nights’ hotel accommodation in Ulaanbaatar, vehicle rental, fuel, third party vehicle liability insurance, the services of a guide and support team, accommodation, food and entrance fees; nomadicroad.com
A fully guided three-day, two-night itinerary at Three Camel Lodge costs from $2,420 per person based on two sharing, including airport transfers, accommodation, meals and excursions including the Yol Valley and Flaming Cliffs. A return internal flight from Ulaanbaatar to Dalanzadgad costs $300 per person and the flight takes 90 minutes each way; threecamellodge.com
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Anna and the Apocalypse
Director: John McPhail
Starring: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming, Mark Benton
Three stars
TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
THE BIO
Ambition: To create awareness among young about people with disabilities and make the world a more inclusive place
Job Title: Human resources administrator, Expo 2020 Dubai
First jobs: Co-ordinator with Magrudy Enterprises; HR coordinator at Jumeirah Group
Entrepreneur: Started his own graphic design business
Favourite singer: Avril Lavigne
Favourite travel destination: Germany and Saudi Arabia
Family: Six sisters
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
NATIONAL%20SELECTIONS
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