2024 Mid-year Update on Internal Displacement

The trends that led to record levels of internally displaced people (IDPs) at the end of 2023 continued into the first half of 2024, in some cases, already setting new records.??

Conflict in Sudan, Ukraine and the Gaza Strip raged on, and it escalated in Mozambique. Violence in Haiti continued unabated, and disasters proved again that displacement can affect anyone, anywhere.??

Floods drove more than a million people from their homes, from Brazil and the Horn of Africa to Kazakhstan and Russia. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, floods combined with ongoing conflict and violence to force more people to flee and prevent aid from reaching those in need.??

In many of these situations, newly displaced people joined those who have been living in displacement for years and those who have fled time and again. The hardships they face can take many shapes, from a loss of livelihoods, food and water insecurity and lack of safety and sanitation, to increased exposure to disease and deteriorating mental health.

There are signs of progress. In Bangladesh and India, where Cyclone Remal led to 1.6 million displacements at the end of May, early warning systems, community-based disaster management and international cooperation helped to mitigate the impacts of this event.?

As we move into the second half of the year, we will continue to monitor internal displacement in more than 250 countries and territories worldwide. We will post snapshots of emerging situations on our Internal Displacement Updates map, and you can access our validated data from previous years in our Global Internal Displacement Database .??

Sudan: The world's largest internal displacement crisis

The conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that broke out on 15 April 2023 continued unabated in the first half of 2024, triggering more than 2.2 million internal displacements. Hostilities escalated on several fronts, with most displacements taking place from Al Jazirah state, particularly after the RSF took control of its capital, Wad Madani, in December.

Fighting intensified across the state in the first months of 2024 as the SAF launched a counteroffensive, retaking some villages close to Wad Madani, including Wad Faqisha and Hafira. Around 392,000 displacements were recorded in Al Jazirah between January and April, when data was last available.

The SAF and RSF also fought for control of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur, triggering nearly 329,000 movements between early April and the end of June. The city, which was home to 1.8 million people, is the last SAF stronghold in the broader Darfur region. The RSF’s efforts to capture the city have raised the risk of further violence and displacement.?

Fighting also spread to Sennar state in late June, triggering approximately 57,000 displacements. Sennar was already home to more than half a million IDPs, most of whom had fled Al Jazirah and Khartoum states.?

With peace efforts stalled, civilian casualties, displacement and food insecurity continued to increase across the country. There were nearly 10.6 million people living in internal displacement in Sudan at the end of June, the highest figure ever recorded for a single country.?

Palestine: "No safe place in Gaza"

The conflict in Palestine persisted for the first half of the year, leaving around 1.9 million people living in internal displacement at the end of June. In the Gaza strip, beyond the scale of displacement, people were forced to flee time and again, but as the UN had repeatedly highlighted since January, there was “no safe place in Gaza”.

Home to more than 1.4 million people - most of whom had fled northern areas of the strip since the outbreak of the war on 7 October - the southern governorate of Rafah was the scene of a major Israeli operation in May which triggered 1.3 million displacements. Fighting also erupted in the Jabalia camp in North Gaza the same month, triggering another 100,000 displacements. Many people fleeing these major operations moved to Khan Younis, where bombardments persisted.?

Israel’s expansion of its ground operation and repeated evacuation orders further complicated the delivery of humanitarian aid and aggravated the already dire living conditions of IDPs across the strip. By mid-June, the whole territory was classified as facing emergency levels of food insecurity, or IPC phase 4. Around 495,000 people, or 22 per cent of Gaza’s population, faced catastrophic levels or IPC phase 5.?

In the West Bank, a coercive environment characterised by movement restrictions and economic constraints persisted, and the demolition of housing by settlers and Israeli security forces more than doubled since 7 October, triggering nearly 1,400 internal displacements in the first half of the year.??

Hostilities related to the conflict in Palestine also continued along the Blue Line that separates Israel and Lebanon, which left around 60,000 and 97,000 people living in displacement, respectively.?

Mozambique: New violence sparks fivefold surge in displacements

The northern province of Cabo Delgado experienced a new wave of conflict displacement in the first half of 2024 after a relatively stable year in 2023. Around 201,000 movements were recorded, nearly five times the figure for the whole of the previous year. They were associated with a recent escalation of violence by the Islamic State Mozambique, which has been behind the insurgency in the province since 2017.

The group entered Chiúre on 3 February. It targeted villages inhabited by Christian communities and claimed killing 70 civilians and burning 500 churches, homes, schools and government buildings. This attack and another in Macomia district triggered around 96,000 displacements during the month, almost half of them to the neighbouring province of Nampula. Around 85 per cent of the IDPs were women or children.

Islamic State Mozambique launched a second offensive into Chiúre in the second half of April, triggering another 51,000 movements. Communities far from Chiúre town, specifically the administrative posts of Mazeze and Chiúre-Velho, were attacked, and the group made its first incursions into Nampula since October 2022.

Botswana and South Africa also began to withdraw troops deployed as part of the Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique in April. The mission, present in Cabo Delgado since 2021, was scheduled to complete its withdrawal by mid-July, and Rwanda deployed 2,000 soldiers and police in May in support of the government’s security operations. The insurgency, however, made territorial gains and expanded its presence in parts of the Macomia and Quissanga districts in May, where over 4,500 displacements were reported.

Around 592,000 people were living in displacement as a result of conflict and violence in Mozambique at the end of June.

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Historic floods and ongoing conflict drive displacement

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) experienced above-average rainfall from December 2023, causing significant floods that affected nearly 2.2 million people. The flooding triggered 521,000 internal displacements in the first six months of 2024, of which 350,000 took place in January alone. The former figure is preliminary and conservative, but it is still the highest number of flood displacements recorded in the DRC since data first became available in 2008.

The Congo river reached its highest level since 1961 in January and February, partially inundating the country’s capital of Kinshasa, home to 17 million people. The situation prompted the government to declare a “hydrological and ecological catastrophe”. In the eastern provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Tanganyika, the floods took place against a backdrop of conflict and violence, further complicating the plight of those displaced.

Ongoing violence in South Kivu triggered more than 185,000 displacements. The city of Minova, home to nearly 300,000 IDPs, was cut off from the provincial capital of Bukavu by floods and landslides, hampering the delivery of aid. The road connecting Minova with Goma in North Kivu was blocked by fighting between government forces and the M23 non-state armed group.

South Kivu and neighbouring Tanganyika continued to experience flooding in March, April and May. The floods triggered 123,000 displacements and caused Lake Tanganyika to burst its bank. The combined effects of conflict and floods significantly reduced agricultural production and heightened food insecurity across eastern DRC, which is home to most of the country’s IDPs and food insecure people. The floods also aggravated sanitary conditions, increasing the risk of waterborne diseases.

Horn of Africa: El Ni?o floods displace hundreds of thousands

The effects of El Ni?o continued to be felt across the Horn of Africa in the first half of 2024, as floods hit Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia during the April-to-May rainy season. Around 473,000 internal displacements were recorded across the three countries, which had also been significantly affected by El Ni?o in 2023 after an extended drought season driven by La Ni?a.

Kenya was the most affected, with over 293,000 movements. The floods also damaged and destroyed property and disrupted services and livelihoods in various parts of the country. As of 18 June, 81 displacement sites were hosting 54,000 people in the counties of Busia, Garissa, Homa Bay, Kisumu, Migori and Tana River. Others sought refuge with host communities.

In neighbouring Somalia, heavy downpours and floods triggered around 97,000 displacements in the south of the country. As in previous rainy seasons, the city of Beledweyne in Hiraan region was severely affected when the Shabelle river burst its banks, triggering around 51,000 movements and underscoring urban communities’ recurring vulnerability to flooding.

More than 83,000 displacements were reported across several regions of Ethiopia, notably Afar, Amhara, Central Ethiopia, Oromia, Somali and South Ethiopia. Oromia was the most affected, particularly its Guji and West Guji zones. The floods took place during ongoing cholera and malaria outbreaks, and aggravated the country’s fragile food security situation.

Brazil: Floods trigger record displacement

The state of Rio Grande do Sul in southern Brazil experienced above-average rainfall between 24 April and 19 May, which caused widespread flooding. A combination of El Ni?o conditions, warmer temperatures in the Atlantic Ocean and humidity from the Amazon fuelled the intensity of the hazard. Around 775,000 displacements were recorded across 478 of the state’s 497 municipalities, with more than half reported in S?o Leopoldo, Canoas, Guaíba and Eldorado do Sul. It was the country’s largest disaster displacement event since data became available in 2008.

The floods caused widespread destruction and severely disrupted basic services and infrastructure, including transport and communication networks. More than 1.7 million people were affected, including 41,000 refugees and people in need of international protection, as well as more than 80 indigenous communities across the state. Communities were isolated for days, and more than half a million people and 110 hospitals were left without power and drinking water. Flights in and out of?Porto Alegre airport were suspended, which impeded relief efforts. The government declared a state of public calamity on 6 May and called on federal authorities and international aid agencies to provide further support for those affected, including those whose homes had been damaged or destroyed.

IDPs’ most pressing need was for shelter, which required a significant mobilisation of resources. The state governor announced the establishment of “temporary cities” in sport and cultural facilities across Canoas, Guaíbato, Porto Alegre, and S?o Leopoldo on 17 May, intended to improve people’s precarious living conditions in the immediate aftermath of the disaster.

Around 389,000 people were still living in displacement in Rio Grande do Sul at the end of June.

Haiti: Exponential surge in displacement continues amid escalating gang violence

Internal displacement associated with criminal violence continued to rise across Haiti, with over 271,000 movements recorded in the first half of 2024. This figure represents a record for the country, which witnessed increasing displacement due to violence since 2019, when only 2,100 movements were recorded.

This period was marked by increased coordination between criminal groups, as gang leaders formed coalitions and called for uprisings in an effort to overthrow the government. On 29 February, several criminal groups conducted coordinated attacks across Port-au-Prince, including at the country’s international airport and several prisons. Almost 15,000 movements were recorded as a result, and displacement sites had to shut down as a result of the rising insecurity. Over 75,000 were recorded in the following weeks as growing numbers of people left the capital in search of safety.

Movements in recent years were concentrated within the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince, but 68 per cent of people living in internal displacement in the first half of 2024 were doing so in other provinces. The number of new displacements also increased in each province, pointing to an expansion of violence beyond the capital.

Around 575,000 people were living in displacement as a result of conflict and violence across Haiti as of the end of June.

Ukraine and Russia: Heightened conflict deepens displacement crisis

Escalating hostilities on the frontlines of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine triggered 115,000 internal displacements in the first half of 2024, 103,000 in Ukraine and over 12,200 in Russia. Most were reported in Donetsk oblast, where Ukrainian authorities documented 71,000 evacuations. Twenty-four per cent were recorded between 23 and 25 March during Russian advances near Avdiivka and Donetsk city.

Russia also launched an offensive in neighbouring Kharkiv oblast in May, which marked a significant escalation in the north-east of the country. Shelling caused substantial damage to local infrastructure and led to nearly 19,000 evacuations, mainly between 10 and 19 May. Most of the evacuees were from vulnerable groups, including elderly and disabled people who had been unable to flee earlier.

Ukrainian forces launched a counteroffensive across the frontlines in Kharkiv in May, and since, less displacement was reported, but Kharkiv remained a conflict hotspot.

In Russia, 96 per cent of all conflict displacements reported during the first semester of the year took place in the Belgorod oblast, which borders Ukraine. Due to shelling, an estimated 10,000 children from Belgorod were moved across 16 oblasts following an evacuation order issued by regional authorities.?

Persistent conflict and violence continued to heighten the humanitarian needs of those affected on both sides. In Ukraine, access to education, cash assistance and protection services were cited as some of IDPs’ most pressing needs.

Russia and Kazakhstan: Severe spring floods cause widespread displacement

Kazakhstan and south-west Russia were affected by severe spring floods in the first half of the year, which triggered around 162,000 displacements across the two countries between late March and May. Such events are common in the area, but the 2024 floods fell far outside the norm as a result of unusually heavy rainfall and high temperatures that led to early snowmelt. The floods’ impact on the local population was extensive, highlighting the vulnerabilities in infrastructure and emergency response mechanisms in both countries.

Kazakhstan declared a state of emergency in 10 of its 17 regions in response to what authorities deemed one of the country’s worst disasters in more than 80 years. The floods triggered nearly 120,000 evacuations, about a quarter of which took place in the Zhylyoi district of Atyrau region. Half of this district's population was evacuated over the course of six days and 70 per cent of its main town, Kulsary, was flooded. The annual average number of disaster displacements in Kazakhstan is 5,500, which shows how much of an outlier this event was.

Russia recorded nearly 43,000 displacements. The majority took place in Orenburg oblast as a result of a dam burst and flooding in the city of Orsk as water levels in the Ural river rose. The regional government’s preparations fell short because they were based on forecasts that were exceeded 10 to 30-fold.

Bangladesh and India: Cyclone Remal causes over a million displacements

Cyclone Remal formed in the Bay of Bengal on 24 May and struck Bangladesh and India three days later, bringing wind speeds of up to 111 km/h and extremely heavy rainfall that caused storm surges and coastal and inland flooding. Around 1.6 million movements were recorded, making Remal the world’s largest disaster displacement event of the first half of the year. About 1.1 million took place in Bangladesh and 548,000 in India.

Almost three-quarters of the displacements recorded in Bangladesh, or 809,000, were pre-emptive evacuations, reflecting the life-saving benefits of disaster risk management and anticipatory action. Local and national authorities transmitted early warnings and established more than 9,000 emergency shelters.

The remaining 278,000 movements took place during the storm, particularly in the divisions of Chattogram, Barisal and Khulna. Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar were also affected. Around 150,000 homes were destroyed across the country as a whole, leaving 172,000 people still living in displacement as of 2 June, more than three-quarters of them in Khulna.

In India, most displacements were reported in the state of West Bengal, where early warnings were issued as Remal approached, allowing the government to conduct the evacuation of 150,000 people to shelters. More than 1,400 relief camps were also set up after the storm. They were closed a month later and people returned, but many did so to damaged or destroyed homes. Remal destroyed around 2,500 homes and damaged 27,000. It also caused significant flooding in the state capital, Kolkata, increased food insecurity and damaged water and sanitation infrastructure.

In the days after Remal, heavy rainfall led to floods along the Brahmaputra river in the eastern state of Assam, triggering 338,000 displacements. Nagaon district accounted for almost half of the total, and Hojai and Karimganj were also particularly affected.

Early warning systems and community-based disaster management were used effectively in both countries to address the challenges posed by severe weather events, showing that the impacts of chronic seasonal disasters can be mitigated.

Our data

The figures presented here are already touching record levels for many countries, but only represent partial estimates because of the different reporting timeframes and the geographical coverage of the different sources. We will continue to identify new sources of data on internal displacement triggered by conflict, violence and disasters, triangulate them and collaborate with partners and data producers around the world to improve and verify our estimates. As always, IDMC’s final verified figures of internal displacement for 2024 will be presented in our 2025 Global Report on Internal Displacement which will be released in May 2025.