00:00We can talk now to Olga Sarado, who's from the United Nations Refugee Agency, the UNHCR.
00:06Thank you for being with us on the programme, Olga.
00:09So, tell us, why was last year so bad?
00:13So, indeed, we are again looking at record numbers of forcibly displaced people,
00:19people that have no choice, have no choice but to leave their countries to seek safety.
00:24The reason behind that is, like, conflicts are lasting longer.
00:28There is an inability to achieve peace, to resolve these conflicts, which continue to drive people from their homes.
00:35Some of them staying within their country, others crossing borders.
00:39We have to see that one third of the people displaced come only from four countries, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan and also Ukraine.
00:48So, it's important that we continue to work towards peace to actually see these numbers actually going down.
00:54So, you mentioned some of the conflicts taking place at the moment, but systemically, what's needed to try and reduce this number of people?
01:03So, the most important is try to put these efforts to resolve those conflicts.
01:11Everyone wants to go home.
01:12All the refugees, what they want is to go back to their countries and just continue with their lives.
01:17But in the meantime, what we need to do is to ensure, actually, that humanitarian assistance can continue to be delivered to these populations that have been left with nothing,
01:27so they can actually rebuild their lives, and also to invest in solutions, so people can continue going to school, they can get a job, they can contribute to their countries that are hosting them at the moment.
01:38That's the most important, to actually provide some dignity and some sense of future to these populations that continue to be displaced today.
01:49So, the trends so far this year suggest that perhaps numbers of displaced people might be lower.
01:56Are you hopeful that this year will end up being better than last?
01:58It's difficult to predict towards the end of the year, because, of course, it will depend on how some of these conflicts evolve,
02:08some of the fragile situations that we are observing continue through the year, and also hoping that there is no new conflict that gets worse.
02:18We are seeing some indications in South Sudan of an escalation of hostilities that are forcing people to live at the moment.
02:26So, it will depend, but indeed, we see some reductions in the figures since the end of 2023 and towards in the first few months of 2025.
02:36And there's a sense of a certain stability, but we need to be cautious.
02:40Some of the reductions in numbers come from some returns, some of them being very positive to Syria.
02:47For instance, following the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad, about two million people have been able to return to their homes.
02:54But there are many of these returns that are happening in distress, in difficult conditions.
03:02Some of these refugees are being forced to go back home just because where they are at the moment, there's a new conflict.
03:09This is the case of the South Sudanese refugees that were in Sudan, and now they had to move back to their country, maybe to be displaced again.
03:18So, it's difficult to assess what's going to happen.
03:22There's, indeed, some positive sense of stability, but we need to be cautious.
03:27Olga, thank you very much indeed for coming on the programme.
03:29That's Olga Zavaro from the UNHCR.
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