Last year saw the highest number of displaced people worldwide in decades according to the Global Trends report released by the United Nation's High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).New or renewed outbreaks of armed conflict across the globe have forced more people to leave their homes. The report's release coincides with what is being called a "humanitarian castastrophe" in Central Asia.
The current conflict in southern Kyrgyzstan has left many dead and wounded, and tens of thousands of people have been forced to flee to neighbouring Uzbekistan.
More than 100,000 people are expected to be displaced. Uzbek officials say they have already registered over 45,000 refugees and cannot accommodate any more. What is behind an apparent increase in the number of refugees? And how should the world act to address their plight?
Joining the programme are Adrian Edwards, the UN's refugee agency chief spokesperson, Bjarte Vandvik, the secretary-general of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, and Richard Whittel from the Coalition to Stop Deportations to Iraq.
This episode of Inside Story aired from Tuesday, June 15, 2010.
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