60 million refugees worldwide, an unprecedented crisis - UNHCR

The world is facing an unprecedented refugee crisis due to protracted wars in several regions and crises, says the UN refugee agency.

The number of refugees worldwide has risen to about 60 million.

“60 million is a crisis. The fact that we have multiple open protracted situations is a crisis in its own right. It has never happened before,” said UNHCR director for the Middle East and North Africa, Amin Awad.

In light of this, several powerhouses pledged more than 11 billion US dollars in February to tackle the refugee crisis.

However, months down the line barely a quarter of what was pledged has been turned in leaving millions of people at risk of being in an unstable region.

UNHCR's Awad_Amin_ joins NewsHour tonight to talk about the #refugeecrisis https://t.co/7JGTfIpJEh gwenifill pic.twitter.com/50tWwmziO7

— UNHCR Washington (UNHCRdc) June 15, 2016

“The world is smaller as it is and more and more people are displaced, more crises are springing up and there are no solutions. There ought to be a mechanism that can address these crises to an end and close them.” Awad added.

According to UNHCR more than a third of refugees in the world are from the Middle East region.

“The Middle East population compared the world’s seven billion people is about 5 to 7 percent, and yet they’re producing 35 to 40 percent of displacement,” said Awad.

The UNHCR says that resettlement remains an effective measure for people in need and is a vital part of its efforts to find solutions for refugees.