June 20, 2011: War and political repression were responsible for 43.7 million people being displaced from their homes by the end of 2010, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The figure comes from a report released by the agency on June 20, World Refugee Day. The number of refugees is the highest in 15 years, and is up 400,000 from the previous year.

Just over half of the refugees are children under age 18, reports Reuters’ AlertNet.

Developing countries shoulder most of the burden of caring for refugees: Pakistan, Iran, and Syria host the majority of refugees. Afghanis make up the largest group of displaced people -- 3 million. Next in absolute numbers are Iraqis, Somalis, and Congolese, reflecting those nations’ ongoing conflicts.

War continues to pressure people to flee. This year strife in Africa and the Middle East has pushed thousands of families from their homes.

SOS Children’s Villages Helping Refugee Children in Liberia

SOS uses its experience raising needy children in 132 countries to alleviate the harsh conditions for child refugees. For example, since May SOS-Liberia has been providing food and other supplies to children from the Ivory Coast whose families fled ongoing strife in that country.  

Coordinating with the U.N. and other nonprofit organizations, SOS is focusing its efforts on the more than 3,800 displaced Ivorians who have found shelter at Bahn Camp in Liberia’s Nimba County. Among the traumatized residents are some 2,000 children. SOS has distributed wheat, rice, and non-food items, including mosquito nets, mattresses and kitchen supplies to prepare hot meals for newly arriving refugees.

Relieve Refugees’ Terrible Plights

The UNHCR estimates that 166,000 Ivorians have crossed into nearby Liberia since November 2010. Twenty-three-year-old Woko is one of them.

Woko has been caring for her three younger siblings since their father died in the conflict. Their mother vanished while running from the violence. “I need help to take care of my little brother and sisters. I have never had a child before. I have no profession and no money to care for them. We depend completely on the food from this camp to survive.”

On World Refugee Day, you can help distraught families like Woko’s. Support SOS Children's Villages now.