UNHCR launches push to halve long-term refugee displacement by 2035

GENEVA (AN) — Global forced displacement declined in 2025 for the first time in a decade, driven in part by rising numbers of refugees returning home, but the U.N. refugee agency warned that millions remain trapped in long-term exile and called for a major shift in how the international community responds.

The number of refugees worldwide fell 3% to 41.6 million at the end of 2025, according to UNHCR's annual Global Trends report released on Thursday. The report found 14.7 million displaced people returned to their places of origin during the year, including 4.4 million refugees and 10.3 million internally displaced people.

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