Global displacement falls for first time in decade as millions forced back to unsafe countries, UNHCR report shows
The number of forcibly displaced people fell by 4% in 2025 to 117.8 million, the first decline in a decade, but the drop was driven by 4.4 million refugees pressured to return to countries still in conflict, according to the UNHCR's latest Global Trends report.
A misleading decline
The global forced displacement total fell to 117.8 million in 2025, down 5.4 million from the year prior and marking the first decrease in a decade. But UNHCR cautions that this drop did not result from improvements in conflict zones. Instead, it came as host countries pushed millions of refugees to return, often under coercive conditions.
Sometimes those conditions are so difficult and hostile that people feel they have no other option. That is not a free choice.
Coercive returns in Iran and Pakistan
Afghanistan bore the brunt of forced returns. Nearly 2 million Afghans were expelled from Iran and Pakistan in 2025. Pakistan’s 'Illegal Foreigners Repatriation Plan' involved night raids without warrants, camp demolitions, and extortion, leading to 1 million expulsions. Iran followed with restrictions on residency and employment, arbitrary arrests, and the expiration of census documents, forcing back around 1.4 million registered refugees. Many returns resulted in family separations and unaccompanied minors being deported.
Syria, Sudan and Europe
More than 1.3 million Syrians also returned under hostile conditions, as did 651,500 Sudanese despite ongoing violence in both countries. The 90% concentration in Afghanistan, Syria and Sudan underscores how returns target nations still mired in crisis. In Europe, Germany opened negotiations with the Taliban to deport Afghan refugees, despite not recognizing the Taliban as a legitimate government. The UNHCR report labels many of these returns as occurring "bajo condiciones coercitivas y de extrema hostilidad".
- Afghanistan
- 1950000 people
- Syria
- 1300000 people
- Sudan
- 651500 people
Broader displacement picture
New cross-border displacement remained high: 5.4 million people fled to another country in 2025, with over 70% originating from Afghanistan, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Venezuela. The total refugee population declined 3% to 41.6 million, including 35.6 million people under UNHCR’s mandate and 6 million Palestinian refugees under UNRWA. Internally displaced persons fell to 68.6 million, down 4.9 million. Yet 70% of refugees live in prolonged displacement, with asylum seekers rising to nearly 9 million.
A slender positive
The report noted that 46,000 stateless people gained citizenship in 24 countries in 2025. Barham Salih, the new UN High Commissioner for Refugees, called the ongoing displacement levels "inaceptablemente altos" and urged lasting solutions to prevent humanitarian aid from becoming "el destino final".
