Barham Salih, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, presented the annual report UNHCR Global Trends, which reveals that forced displacement in the world has decreased for the first time in a decade, although it continues to reach unacceptably high levels.
In 2025, 5.4 million people escaped violence and persecution by fleeing to other countries. The report also notes an acceleration of returns: 14.7 million people displaced returned to their places or countries of origin (4.4 million refugees and 10.3 million internally displaced persons), with particularly significant increases in Afghanistan, Sudan, and Syria.
The returns of refugees were the second highest since records began six decades ago, although many occurred under pressure and in precarious conditions in the countries of return.
Overall, the data shows that the number of refugees in the world decreased by 3% in 2025, to 41.6 million. As a positive note, nearly 46,000 stateless persons obtained citizenship in 24 countries during the last year.
With 70% of refugees trapped in exile for years and many living below the poverty line, the High Commissioner has urged the international community to support a new initiative aimed at lifting millions of people out of prolonged displacement and dependency on humanitarian aid.
"For too many refugees, displacement starts as a lifeline, but ends up lasting a lifetime," Salih stated. "Humanitarian aid saves lives, but it cannot be the final destination or enable refugees to take control of their future. We need a paradigm shift that opens new opportunities and restores hope to those fleeing war and persecution."
Salih has set the goal of reducing by more than half over the next decade the number of refugees living in prolonged displacement and dependent on humanitarian aid, thereby improving the prospects of millions of people.
The initiative, focused on low- and middle-income countries hosting the majority of the refugee population, involves expanding return opportunities, relocation, resettlement, and access to humanitarian visas, as well as gradually replacing traditional assistance models with self-reliance-oriented strategies.
Salih emphasized the urgent need to expand solutions in third countries through resettlement of the most vulnerable cases, family reunification, and access to work permits and scholarships. The gap between existing needs and available spaces is huge and continues to widen. According to the report, in 2025 arrivals through resettlement or sponsorship programs decreased by over 50% compared to the previous year, to 81,800 people.
"Asylum and protection save lives and are not in question, but we cannot accept a future where millions of refugees remain trapped for years or decadeswithout real prospects of rebuilding their lives," Salih concluded.