Internal displacement in armed conflict

[This fact sheet provides general background on internal displacement in armed conflict. It can also serve as a general basis for key messages on the topic. For context-specific guidance, please contact the Policy Branch.]

In armed conflict, civilians are often compelled to leave their home for reasons related to the fighting. When they have fled their home and remain in their country, they are internally displaced persons (IDPs). When they have fled across an international border because of conflict or persecution, they become asylum seekers. When a person’s asylum claim is granted, that person is a refugee.
The terms “forcibly displaced” or “forced displacement” generally apply to IDPs, asylum seekers and refugees. In addition, the term “forced displacement” may refer more specifically to the prohibition under international law against ordering the displacement of civilians (see below).
Today 65.6 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide, including 17.2 million refugees. At the end of 2016, 40.3 million people were living in internal displacement – including 6.9 million new internal displacements – as a result of conflict and violence.