International

Conflicts and disasters caused the displacement of 83 million people in 2024, a record figure

A total of 83.4 million people, a figure never recorded before, lived at the end of 2024 away from their homes in their own countries due to conflicts and natural disasters, according to the annual report of the Internal Displacement Observatory (IDMC).

The figure represents an increase of 11% compared to the previous year and indicates that in six years the domestic displacement figures have doubled, in a context of growing violence on all continents and greater frequency of extreme weather events as a result of climate change.

90% of these displacements (73.5 million, 10% more than in 2023) were caused by violence, with Sudan being the country most affected by this type of exodus, since two years of civil war have forced 11.6 million people to live far from their homes, the highest figure ever recorded in a single country.

Next are Syria, with 7.4 million internally displaced people, although this figure is expected to fall this year after the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December, while Colombia, with 7.3 million, could instead increase these figures in 2025 with the growing conflict in the northeastern region of Catatumbo.

At the end of last year, 9.8 million people were displaced by natural disasters, an increase of 29% compared to a year earlier, of which one in seven (1.3 million) is in Afghanistan, a country that last year was hit by both droughts and floods.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

The second country with the most disaster displaced people is Chad (1.2 million), followed by the Philippines (one million), Ethiopia (757,000) and Somalia (733,000).

Of all the displaced, almost half are concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa (38.8 million), 20% in the Middle East and the Maghreb (16.6 million), 12% in the Americas (9.7 million) and 9% in South Asia (7.1 million).

In Europe, mainly because of the war in Ukraine, there are still 5.9 million internally displaced persons, 7% of the total, while in East Asia and the Pacific the number of people away from their homes is 5.2 million, 6%.

“These figures show that internal displacement is not only a humanitarian crisis: it is a clear political and development challenge that requires much more attention than it currently receives,” said IDMC director Alexandra Bilak, when presenting these figures.

Last year IDMC accounted for 20.1 million movements of displaced people due to conflict, including 5.3 million in the DRC, 3.7 million in Sudan and 3.2 million in Palestine, where due to the constant Israeli attacks many civilians have had to move several times throughout the conflict.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

In addition, disaster movements totaled last year another record figure, 45.8 million, almost all due to floods and storms, hurricanes, cyclones or typhoons, although on many occasions they were temporary evacuations, after which the displaced were able to return home.

The fact that the United States ranked first in this indicator stands out, taking into account the massive evacuations carried out during Hurricanes Helene and Milton in Florida: in total, the displacements due to disasters in that country were 11 million.

Next, the Philippines (almost 9 million), India (5.4 million), China (3.9 million) and Bangladesh (2.4 million) were placed in the table.

IDMC warned that the number of countries in which displacements were recorded due to both conflicts and disasters has tripled since 2009, and that more than three quarters of internally displaced people at the end of 2024 lived in countries very vulnerable to climate change.

“Solving displacement requires both immediate efforts to help people who have lost everything and investments to address vulnerabilities, with the aim that people are not forced to move,” Bilak stressed.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

To the internally displaced persons should be added the also growing number of people who have fled from conflicts, crises and disasters to other countries as refugees or asylum seekers, and which according to figures from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) amounted to 43.4 million in mid-2024.

International

Hiroshima survivor who embraced Obama dies at 88

The emotional embrace between Barack Obama and Hiroshima survivor Mori—who was eight years old when the United States dropped the atomic bomb in 1945—resonated around the world.

According to Asahi Shimbun and other local media, Mori died on Saturday at a hospital in Hiroshima.

Mori, known for his research on the fate of American prisoners of war in Hiroshima, was thrown into a river by the force of the explosion on August 6, 1945, during the atomic bombing of the city.

In a past interview with AFP, ahead of his meeting with Obama at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial in 2016, Mori recalled the chaos and desperation that followed the blast.

He described how, after emerging from the water, he encountered injured civilians seeking help amid the devastation, an experience that stayed with him throughout his life.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

In 2016, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima, where he paid tribute to the victims of the first atomic bomb used in warfare. During the visit, Mori was visibly moved as he met the president, sharing a brief but powerful moment that symbolized remembrance and reconciliation.

The bombing of Hiroshima resulted in the deaths of approximately 140,000 people, including those who succumbed to radiation exposure in the aftermath.

Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing an estimated 74,000 people and contributing to the end of World War II.

International

Colombia seeks ‘total suffocation’ of armed groups with regional support

Colombia is advancing a strategy aimed at the “total suffocation” of illegal armed groups, seeking to corner them in border regions with the support of Ecuador and Venezuela, Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez said in an interview with AFP.

According to the minister, coordinated pressure from neighboring countries—backed by United States—aims to dismantle criminal networks that use cross-border routes to traffic Colombian cocaine toward North America and Europe.

For decades, armed groups involved in Colombia’s internal conflict have relied on border territories as strategic rear bases to evade military operations and maintain logistical support.

However, Sánchez said that dynamic is beginning to change.

“We expect a total suffocation between both nations so they have no spaces where they can live or feel safe […] to close off any room they might have,” he stated during the interview in Bogotá, less than five months before the end of President Gustavo Petro’s term.

20260224_estafa_mh_728x90

Regional developments have reinforced this strategy. Following the capture of Nicolás Maduro in a U.S. military operation, Washington has increased its influence in Caracas, where interim leader Delcy Rodríguez has implemented a renewed anti-narcotics policy.

Meanwhile, in Ecuador, President Daniel Noboa—a key U.S. ally in the region—has launched a two-week security plan under strict curfews to combat criminal gangs, with U.S. support.

Sánchez argued that these combined efforts leave illegal organizations with fewer escape routes and operational spaces, effectively placing them in a “dead end.”

International

Two killed in shooting at restaurant near Frankfurt Airport

Two people were shot dead early Tuesday at a restaurant in Raunheim, near Frankfurt Airport, according to local police.

Preliminary findings indicate that an armed individual entered the establishment at around 03:45 local time (02:45 GMT) and opened fire on the victims, who died at the scene from their injuries.

The suspect fled and remains at large, while the motive behind the shooting is still unclear, German media reported. Authorities have launched a large-scale search operation.