Chapter 4 IDP population (millions) Figure 14 | IDPs of concern to UNHCR (includes people in an IDP-like situation) | 2009-2018 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 ‘09 ‘10 ‘11 ‘12 ‘13 hostilities in Eastern Ghouta and Afrin led to largescale displacement to Rural Damascus and northern Syria. Escalated tensions in southern Syria forced people to flee toward the border with Jordan and the Golan area to the west. Sporadic artillery shelling and infighting among non-State armed groups in northwestern Syria and south-eastern Deir-ez-Zor pushed successive waves of new displacement into Idlib Governorate, exacerbating existing pressures.51 While there were displacements in many regions of the country, more than half of the new displacements were recorded in Idlib Governorate. The IDP population in DRC continued to increase, rising from 4,351,400 at the end of 2017 to 4,516,900 at the end of 2018. There were 322,000 reported new displacements in 2018 with South Kivu, North Kivu, Tanganyika and Kasai provinces being the most affected. Active conflicts and political uncertainties exacerbated by the ongoing electoral process continued to drive significant displacement. 52 Nevertheless, improved security across some territories in Tanganyika facilitated some spontaneous returns. 53 Somalia experienced a significant increase in internal displacement with 602,700 new displacements during 2018. That brought the total displaced population to about 2,648,000, the fourth largest IDP population and an increase of 25 per cent over the course of 2018. The largest displaced population was 36 ‘14 ‘15 ‘16 ‘17 ‘18 concentrated in south-central Somalia, while the majority of newly displaced people were living in Somaliland by the end of 2018. Armed conflict and food insecurity continued to spur large-scale displacement, largely toward urban areas, where approximately 80 per cent of Somali IDPs remained in 2018. Even where violence had ceased, many IDPs were reluctant to return due to fear of reprisal and limited availability of social services and livelihood opportunities. Sexual and gender-based violence, child recruitment, and attacks on civilian areas and infrastructure remained pervasive features of the humanitarian crisis as active conflict exacerbated existing risks.54 In Ethiopia there was a dramatic increase in the internally displaced population, which more than doubled from 1,078,400 at the beginning of 2018 to 2,615,800 at the end.55 The increase is accounted for by more than 1.5 million new displacements, mainly 51 “2019 Humanitarian needs overview: – Syria”. See: www. humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/ files/documents/files/2019_syr_hno_full.pdf 52 “Global humanitarian overview 2019”. See: www.unocha.org/sites/ unocha/files/GHO2019.pdf 53 “2018 Apercu des besoins humanitaires: – Republique Democratique du Congo”. See: www.humanitarianresponse.info/ sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/files/documents/files/ drc_hno_2018_fr.pdf 54 “2019 Humanitarian needs overview: – Somalia”. See: www. humanitarianresponse.info/sites/www.humanitarianresponse.info/ files/documents/files/somalia_2019_hno.pdf 55 This figure relates to displacement caused by conflict and does not include the displacement associated with natural disasters in Ethiopia. unhcr > Global trends 2018