The number of people forced to flee is higher than ever before.

Error detected

The core factual assertion — that the number of people forced to flee is higher than ever before — is directly contradicted by UNHCR's Global Trends 2025 (published June 2026, i.e. before the session): 117.8 million forcibly displaced at end-2025, below the record 123.2 million at end-2024. UNHCR itself described 2025 as the first decline in forced displacement in a decade.

Omissions

• The most recent data available before the session — UNHCR's Global Trends report for 2025, published in June 2026 — shows forced displacement DECLINED to 117.8 million at end-2025 (down 5.4 million from the 2024 record of 123.2 million), the first decrease in a decade.
• The decline was partly driven by returns: UN News reports that 14.7 million displaced people returned to their areas or countries of origin in 2025.
• The first part of the speaker's statement ('hundreds of millions of people in acute need') refers to a different, broader humanitarian-needs metric (global humanitarian caseloads), not to forced displacement levels.
• UNHCR's own 'Figures at a glance' page and the June 2026 Global Trends report contradict the 'record high' framing; the record remains the end-2024 figure of 123.2 million.

Sources

• PrimaryUNHCR — Figures at a glanceAt the end of December 2025, 117.8 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations...
• PrimaryUNHCR — Global Trends reportThe latest Global Trends report, published in June 2026, provides key statistical trends on forced displacement. At the end of 2025, 68.7 million people remained internally displaced within their own country.
• SecondaryUN News (United Nations)Refugee numbers drop for first time in a decade, but millions... Returns also gathered pace: 14.7 million displaced people went back to their areas or countries of origin in 2025 – including 4.4 million...
• SecondaryUSA for UNHCR — Five Takeaways from the 2025 UNHCR Global Trends reportThe total number of forcibly displaced people decreased for the first time in a decade, with 117.8 million recorded worldwide by the end of 2025. At the end of 2025, there were 117.8 million people forcibly displaced, more than the combined populations of the 16 largest metropolitan areas.
• SecondaryReliefWeb — Global Trends: Forced Displacement in 2025Overall, the data showed that global refugee numbers declined in 2025 by 3 per cent to 41.6 million. In a positive development, nearly 46,000...