Chapter 1 need resettlement in 2025, more than double the amount in 2021.51 Almost 88,900 refugees obtained their host country’s citizenship or were granted permanent residence in 2024. Only 26 countries globally reported on naturalization, therefore this figure is unlikely to reflect all refugees that have been able to do so. Naturalization laws and policies have also become more restrictive in several countries.52 This has removed possibilities for refugees to contribute to the economies and social fabric of asylum countries that they have considered as their home for many years. More than 8.2 million IDPs returned in 2024, the second highest total ever recorded. But in the absence of peace and stability in their country, many IDPs remain trapped in cycles of returns followed by new displacement and conflicts are becoming increasingly protracted. Many of these returns therefore may not be sustainable. For example, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, millions of IDPs returned during 2024, but at the same time, many millions were newly displaced by the enduring conflict in the east of the country, which has deteriorated further in 2025. Positively, in Ethiopia and Lebanon returns of IDPs have continued in early 2025 and in Syria, reported returns by the beginning of May 2025 already exceed those recorded during the whole of 2024. A humanitarian system at breaking point As the number of people forcibly displaced around the world has grown over the last 13 years, resources to address the needs of those forced to flee have not kept up. UNHCR and the broader humanitarian community are facing detrimental funding cuts, that will severely impact millions of people globally.53 Without sufficient funding, there will not be enough food assistance and basic shelter support for displaced people, leaving them with little option than to resort to dangerous onward movements.54 Protection services, including specialised interventions for children, or safe spaces for refugee women and girls at risk of violence are likely to be terminated.55 Communities that have generously hosted forcibly displaced people for years will be left without the support they need, reducing access to essential services.56 And, perhaps most critically, hopes for returns will either not materialize or the return will not be dignified and will not be accompanied by an increase in adequate services, housing, and livelihood opportunities in countries of origin. As a result, people that do return from within the country or from abroad may have no choice but to leave again.57 Reliable and timely data underpins humanitarian actions. In the current context, the ability to maintain critical datasets is at risk, with potentially severe negative impacts on the efficacy of responses to crises worldwide.58 Growing weaknesses in the production of these datasets will reduce the accessibility, accuracy, comparability, reliability and timeliness of key statistics that are derived from them. UNHCR assesses the quality of such statistics with its recently published Statistical Quality Assurance Framework for Official Statistics.59 For the number of forcibly displaced people to reduce globally, meaningful progress is required in addressing the root causes of forced displacement – conflict, disregard for the basic tenets of International Humanitarian Law, other forms of violence and persecution. In the meantime, resources to meet urgent humanitarian needs, to support host countries, to protect people from the risks of dangerous onward movements and to help refugees and other forcibly displaced people find durable solutions to their displacement are more essential than ever. The consequences of inaction will be borne by those who can least afford it. 51 See Projected global resettlement needs 2025, UNHCR. 52 Some countries have recently introduced restrictions include more stringent language tests for foreigners seeking to stay in the country; rejecting applications for citizenship depending on how refugees have arrived in the country as well as extending the minimum residency period required for citizenship applications by several years. 53 See US funding freeze global survey, Humanitarian Action. 54 See UNHCR: Funding crunch increases risks of violence, danger and death for refugees, UNHCR. 55 See Amid funding crunch, UNHCR issues urgent call to protect women and girls from surging violence, UNHCR. 56 See Costa Rica’s solidarity with refugees threatened by major funding cuts, warns UNHCR, UNHCR. 57 See UNHCR: Needs intensify as 400,000 Syrians return, UNHCR. 58 See the State of Open Humanitarian Data 2025, UNOCHA, Data availability risks, page 10. 59 See Statistical Quality Assurance Framework for Official Statistics, UNHCR. 12 UNHCR > GLOBAL TRENDS 2024