By mid-2023, 110 million people were displaced worldwide according to UNHCR's 2023 Mid-Year Trends analyses.

They are forced to leave their homes due to conflict, violence, human rights violations, persecution, and natural hazards.

This number reached the 100 million mark in the first half of 2022 due to the Russian aggression against Ukraine – the highest number ever recorded.

Of all forcibly displaced people, 62.5 million are internally displaced people and 36.4 million are refugees (as of end of 2022). 75% of the world’s refugees and other people in need of international protection are hosted by low and middle-income countries. An estimated 43.3 million (40%) are children below the age of 18.

For 2024, UNHCR expects the number of forcibly displaced and stateless people to climb to 130.8 million.

The majority of refugees and other people in need of international protection come from just three countries: the Syrian Arab Republic (6.5 million), Afghanistan (6.1 million) and Ukraine (5.9 million). As of mid-2023, Iran was the largest refugee-hosting country in the world (around 3.4 million refugees), followed by Turkey (around 3.3 million), Germany (around 2.5 million), Pakistan (around 2 million) and Uganda (around 1.5 million).

Migration benefits

Around the world, the vast majority of migrants travel, live and work in a regular and legal manner. Migration can bring considerable benefits to all sides. In countries of destination, migrants can make up for labour shortages, invest in new businesses, help create jobs and contribute to a richer and more diverse culture.

Migrants, notably those working in the health sector, have been giving an important contribution in addressing the Covid-19 pandemic in their host countries. Migration also contributes to development in countries of origin: migrants send home remittances, which provide a stable source of financing that can help reduce poverty, and bring home new skills.

Migration challenges

Migration also presents a set of specific challenges, in particular when it takes place in an irregular manner. Migrants risk their life on dangerous journeys and are vulnerable to exploitation and abuse. At their destination, migrants often face difficulties in accessing health care, housing, education or employment. Organised crime networks benefit from facilitating irregular migration. 

Migration is a key policy area for the EU. Over the past years, the EU has developed a comprehensive and balanced policy framework on migration. Our ultimate aim is to ensure that migration takes place in a safe and regular manner, avoiding loss of life, protecting the human rights of migrants and providing international protection to those who need it. Constructive and sustainable migration policies are in the interest of partner countries, the EU, and refugees and migrants themselves.

The Commission presented the New Pact on Migration and Asylum in September 2020

It provides a reinforced basis to achieve the EU’s overarching migration objectives and provide a sustainable and long-term response to manage migration and asylum, by putting in place a predictable and reliable migration management system.

Whilst much of the Pact is about reforming the EU’s asylum and migration systems, the New Pact also puts great emphasis on the external dimension, in particular on cooperation with third countries and regions, acknowledging that migration is central to the EU’s overall relationships with key partner countries of origin and transit.

Partnerships

To that end, the New Pact foresees to strengthen tailor-made, comprehensive and mutually beneficial partnerships with key third countries of origin and transit. In such comprehensive partnerships, migration should be built in as a core issue, based on an assessment of the interests of the EU and partner countries.

These partnerships can cover all relevant aspects of migration and forced displacement. This includes

• strong commitment to providing support for refugees and displaced people and their host communities;
• addressing the root causes of irregular migration and forced displacement;
• strengthening migration governance and management in partner countries;
• enhancing cooperation on readmission and reintegration;
• developing legal pathways
• fighting the criminal networks behind migrant smuggling

The EU engages continuously with partner countries in the framework of comprehensive migration dialogues.

Regional processes are valuable frameworks for dialogue that facilitate practical exchanges of experiences and perspectives from countries of origin, transit and destination, and help enhancing mutual understanding of approaches to migration-related challenges and opportunities. The EU is actively engaged in the Rabat, Khartoum, Budapest and Prague processes that cover the various migration routes to Europe. The Joint Valletta Action Plan continues to provide a useful framework for the EU's work on migration, notably though its principles of solidarity, shared responsibility and partnership and its comprehensive and balanced approach to migration.

Continental dialogue

The African Union – European Union Continent-to-Continent Dialogue on Migration and Mobility was launched at the 5th AU-EU Summit in Abidjan in November 2017. The continental dialogue expands the exchange of best practices and sharing of information to the African continent as a whole.

At multilateral level the EU works closely with key UN agencies, such as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) or the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

The EU is taking decisive action against migrant smuggling that is a profitable business for criminal networks with an estimated annual turnover reaching multiple billion euros worldwide.

Against migrant smuggling

Migrant smuggling is increasingly associated with serious human rights violations and deaths, in particular when it occurs by sea. As announced in the New Pact on Migration and Asylum and the EU Security Union Strategy, the Commission has adopted a renewed EU action plan against migrant smuggling for the period 2021-2025. In November 2023, the EU proposed a package of innovative legislation to prevent and fight migrant smuggling and initiated a new Global Alliance to counter migrant smuggling.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognises that migration is a powerful driver of sustainable development, for migrants and their communities.

The 7th target of the 10th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG10) – target 10.7 – prescribes “to facilitate orderly, safe, regular and responsible migration and mobility of people, including through the implementation of planned and well-managed migration policies”.

Sustainable development

At EU level, the European Consensus on Development (2017) mirrors the UN 2030 Agenda and acknowledges both the challenges of migration and the opportunities it brings for inclusive growth and sustainable development when well-managed.

Through remittances migrants make major contributions to development and poverty reduction at home. Remittances are estimated to amount to USD 656 billion globally in 2023, three times the Official Development Assistance (USD 204 billion in 2022).

Remittance flows tend to be stable and resilient during crises. During the Covid-19 epidemic, for instance, they fell by only 1.6%. The EU is working with partners to promote cheap, fast and reliable remittance transfers in line with SDG 10.c.

The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (Geneva Convention) provides the international legal framework for refugee protection. It recognises that a satisfactory solution to refugee situations requires international cooperation. Against this background, the 2019 UNHCR Global Compact on Refugees intends to provide a basis for predictable and equitable burden- and responsibility-sharing among all United Nations Member States, together with other relevant stakeholders.

The Global Compact emanates from fundamental principles of humanity and international solidarity, and seeks to operationalise the principles of burden- and responsibility-sharing to better protect and assist refugees and support host countries and communities.

It is grounded in the international refugee protection regime, centred on the cardinal principle of non-refoulement. The EU has actively contributed to the development of the Compact and is engaged in its practical implementation.

Common global challenge

The EU is committed to meeting this common global challenge in a spirit of partnership and will continue to work on strengthening protection systems, protection capacities, and access to international protection within Europe and in partner countries hosting refugees.

Together with its Member States, the EU is the leading donor to support responses to major refugee crises, bringing together humanitarian and development efforts through the EU policy on forced displacement. The Commission Communication ‘Lives in dignity’ (2016) states our commitment to include forced displacement in our development programming and enhance the shared responsibility of this issue at global level.

In 2023, the EU allocated most of its humanitarian budget of EUR 1.7 billion to address the needs of refugees, IDPs and their host communities.

The EU has given considerable support to refugee hosting countries, notably to the countries affected by the Syria crisis through dedicated instruments such as the EU's Facility for Refugees in Turkey and the EU Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian crisis.

In addition, the humanitarian evacuation of people from Libya to Emergency Transit Mechanisms in Niger and Rwanda for onward resettlement helps the most vulnerable.

Refugees' support

Support for refugees is also channelled through the EU Trust Fund Africa. In the context of the situation in Ukraine, the Commission allocated so far EUR 785 million for humanitarian aid programmes.

In response to the conflict in Gaza the EU quadrupled its ongoing humanitarian assistance to over EUR 100 million in 2023 and launched a Humanitarian Air Bridge operation in aid to the civilians affected by the crisis.