Why people need to leave

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Conflict and violence

Conflict and violence are the most common cause today of people being forced to leave home. Many of the largest and most dramatic movements of people, such as the current crisis in Syria and Iraq and the movements following World War II, are caused by widespread conflict.

There are less well-known, but very significant, conflicts that are also causing large numbers of people to move. In 2015, there were new or revived conflicts in Burundi, Iraq, Libya, Niger, and Nigeria. There were also older conflicts in Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, and Yemen. In 2015, there were 8.6 million people newly displaced in their own country due to conflict and violence, although this was less than the 11 million (a record) in 2014.