Number of IDPs Remains Stable

A report by the Norwegian Refugee Council's Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre says that the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs or people living in other parts of their homeland after fleeing conflict, generalized violence and human rights violations) has been stable since 2007.

The report found that the 26 million people who are currently IDPs included 4.6 million newly displaced in 2008, up 900,000 from the previous year, and an equivalent number of returns.

South and South-east Asia were the regions with the largest relative change in the number of IDPs last year, with a 13 percent increase from the end of 2007. The report noted that Africa was the most affected continent, with 11.6 million IDPs in 19 countries, though this figure was down nine percent on 2007.

The countries with the largest number of internally displaced were the Sudan (4.9 million), Colombia (up to 4.3 million) and Iraq (2.8 million).