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More people were newly displaced last year compared with the previous year, but the number living in other parts of their homeland globally remained stable over the same period, according to a report by the Norwegian Refugee Council's Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, which was released in New York.
It stated that the 26 million internally displaced people (IDP) included 4.6 million newly displaced in 2008, up 900,000 from 2007, and an equivalent number of returns.
The biggest new displacement occurred in the Philippines where 600,000 people fled fighting between the government and armed groups in Mindanao region. There were also large-scale displacements of 200,000 people or more in Sudan, Kenya, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Colombia, Sri Lanka and India.
Africa was the most affected continent, with 11.6 million IDPs in 19 countries, though this figure was down 9 percent on 2007.
IDPs in 2008, the report noted, were "exposed to a wide range of discrimination and human rights violations as a result of deliberate policies or neglect". In 26 out of 52 countries, they faced insecurity after moving.
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