Displacement numbers are rising, and needs are spiralling out of control. Yet, funding, media attention, and political engagement remain inadequate, particularly in Africa.
The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in its latest report has revealed that nine of the world's most neglected displacement crises are found in Africa.
The majority of the crises in this year's report have featured repeatedly, and yet still more crises are now falling into a vicious cycle of neglect. International political neglect, limited media coverage, donor fatigue, and ever-deepening humanitarian needs are contributing to a wider pattern of neglect.
Many of the neglected crises featured in this report are interconnected. A crisis in one country often has ripple effects beyond its borders, affecting neighbouring countries and populations, and sometimes causing a broader regional impact.
Below are the countries experiencing the world's most neglected displacement crises:
1). Burkina faso
Engulfed in conflict since 2019, Burkina Faso tops the neglected crises list for the second year running. With a record-high 707,000 new displacements within the country's borders, the humanitarian crisis continued unabated in 2023, while hundreds of thousands of people were cut off from aid.
An all-time high of 6.3 million people will need humanitarian assistance in 2024 and over 2 million remain internally displaced.
2. Cameroon
Continuous violence in Cameroon's Northwest and Southwest regions has entered its seventh year. The security situation in Cameroon's Far North region became increasingly volatile, with civilians frequently being targeted by non-state armed groups as fighting surged in the Lake Chad Basin area.
Escalating violence forced many Cameroonians to flee their homes, resulting in 1.1 million people displaced within the country by the year's end. The arrival of refugees from the neighbouring Central African Republic put a further strain on resources.
3. DR Congo
For the eighth consecutive year, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) remained among the world's most neglected crises. Over 25 million people continued to face multiple emergencies, and violence across eastern DR Congo worsened in 2023.
North Kivu and Ituri provinces witnessed an escalation in fighting and local conflict. Civilians bore the brunt of the attacks, with fighting often targeting informal camps and urban centres.
4.Mali
On 30 June 2023, at the request of the Malian authorities, the United Nations Security Council requested the decade-long UN peacekeeping mission in Mali to withdraw from the country by the end of the year. The withdrawal of the 13,000-strong operation led to an increase in clashes between the state's military and non-state armed groups in northern Mali.
Over 340,000 people were internally displaced as of December 2023. Despite the growing violence, however, the number of people who were deemed in need of humanitarian assistance at the end of 2023 had decreased to 7.1 million, down from 8.8 million in 2022.
5.Niger
Once a symbol of stability in West Africa, 2023 saw Niger lose political and financial support from Western countries and break ties with long-term regional partners. The country faced a multifaceted crisis that included climate disasters, food insecurity and epidemics. Nearly 4.3 million people required humanitarian assistance.
Before the coup d'état in July 2023, Niger was heavily dependent on international aid to provide essential services, such as healthcare and education. The country received nearly $2 billion in development aid every year. As one of the world's poorest and most fragile countries, such support was significant. After the coup, the situation changed. Development aid was mostly suspended or curtailed by key donors, and only 43 per cent of the humanitarian response plan was funded.
6.South Sudan
In 2023, South Sudan grappled with crises stemming from chronic political instability and inter-communal conflict. Economic decline, severe flooding and drought exacerbated the situation and led to multiple cycles of displacement.
Nine million people needed humanitarian assistance - around 70 per cent of the population. Due to neglect and underfunding, only a fraction of these needs were met, leaving around 6.9 million people facing severe food shortages, including 1.7 million malnourished children.
7.Central African Republic
Despite a slight improvement in the security situation and a drop in the number of people displaced in 2023, the Central African Republic (CAR) continued to pay the price for a decade of conflict. It remained unnoticed by the media and forgotten by donors. Some 2.8 million Central Africans needed humanitarian support in 2023.
Although internal conflict slightly abated, the north-east of CAR was affected by the war in Sudan and insecurity in the border area. One out of five Central Africans remained displaced within the country or abroad because of ongoing violence.
8.Chad
After war erupted in Sudan in 2023, over 600,000 people crossed into eastern Chad fleeing ethnically driven attacks in West Darfur. Half of these arrivals sought shelter in informal camps and remained there months after crossing. In Adré, close to the border with Darfur, refugees now outnumber locals by more than two to one.
Chad is one of several countries reeling from the wider global neglect of the Sudan crisis. It hosted nearly 40 per cent of Sudanese refugees in 2023, bringing one of the world's largest displacement crises to one of the world's poorest countries.
9.Sudan
April 2023 marked one of the darkest chapters in Sudan's history. Years of growing violence culminated in a war that has ravaged the country and taken a devastating toll on civilian lives. Relentless warfare and indiscriminate violence destroyed Khartoum, Sudan's capital city, and tore through the regions of Darfur and Kordofan, as well as Al Jazirah, the country's breadbasket.
1.4 million fled across the border, and more than 8 million people were internally displaced, making Sudan the largest internal displacement crisis in the world. In total, more than half of Sudan's population - nearly 25 million people - needed humanitarian aid.
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