The number of refugees in the world has skyrocketed from 42 million to almost 66 million since 2009, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Thursday.
"The diminishing ability of the global community to prevent, contain and resolve conflicts is the cause of the increase," Filippo Grandi told the UN Security Council in New York.
Grandi said the "cataclysmic conflict" alone in Syria has driven 11 million people from their homes, and Syria and Iraq now account for a quarter of all the forcibly displaced worldwide.
Grandi cited the crisis in Myanmar, which has seen more than 500,000 Rohingya Muslim refugees flee to the border with Bangladesh as "a clear illustration of what happens when the root causes of conflict and violence are not addressed."
The UN human rights chief, Zeid Ra & # 39; ad Al Hussein, called the crisis "an example of an ethnic cleansing textbook."
"The world has the leadership of the Security Council to restore security, resolve conflicts and build peace.
"Neglected local crises take pace and become transnational with broader implications.
"The focus is on short-term interests instead of long-term collective stability – have we become unable to mediate peace?" Grandi said.
