The document states that people were forced to leave their homes primarily due to military conflicts, natural disasters, and food shortages. This figure is the highest since 1993, which was previously considered a 'record' year for internally displaced persons. At that time, huge numbers of people were leaving the territory of the former Yugoslavia and the post-Soviet space.
According to the 2007 report data, reports RIA Novosti, almost half of the internally displaced fled from Sudan (5.8 million people), Colombia (nearly 4 million), and Iraq (2.5 million). A total of 52 countries are listed.
"Despite the fact that they bear responsibility for the well-being of citizens on the territory (of their) countries, many national governments in 2007 still could not or did not want to prevent the (factors) forcing people to leave their homes," said the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Elisabeth Rasmusson. The flow of internally displaced from Iraq increased from 2006, when the global figure reached 24.5 million people.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said that internally displaced persons face 'unwillingness or inability' of some governments to provide people with normal living conditions and security. Guterres also reported that the number of internally displaced from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Somalia reached 1.4 million and 1 million people respectively. These alarming figures, according to Guterres, should be a signal for international solidarity in addressing problems in these countries.
Elisabeth Rasmusson also emphasized that internally displaced persons very often face gross human rights violations. Particularly alarming, in her opinion, is the situation of women and children.