Danish Refugee Council Warns 4 Million More Face Displacement as Global Aid Drops

COPENHAGEN / GENEVA – More than 4 million additional people are expected to be forcibly displaced by the end of next year as donor countries scale back life-saving humanitarian aid, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) warned on Thursday.

The alert comes against an already grim backdrop: the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reports that approximately 117 million people are currently displaced worldwide, driven by a surge in active conflicts to around 130 double the number recorded earlier this century.

“The international safety net that once existed now has gaping holes,” Charlotte Slente, Secretary General of the DRC, told Reuters. “For families fleeing war with nothing but the clothes on their backs, there is little hope as humanitarian assistance shrinks.”

According to the DRC, Sudan will see the largest single increase. The country’s civil war entered its fourth year this week, with 13.5 million people already uprooted. An estimated 670,000 more Sudanese will be forced to flee this year and next, adding immense pressure on neighboring nations.

In Chad, which has already absorbed hundreds of thousands of refugees from Sudan’s Darfur region, UN agencies warn they may soon have to cut off vital supplies of clean water and food due to severe funding shortfalls. Such cuts, aid workers say, would trigger a secondary health and malnutrition crisis.

The DRC’s findings developed with technical support from IBM are based on an analysis of key indicators across 27 countries, including security stability, environmental conditions, economic vulnerability, and the availability of humanitarian access. The model highlights how dwindling international funding directly accelerates displacement, as fragile host communities and relief systems become overwhelmed.

The council is urging donor governments to reverse recent aid reductions, warning that failure to act will not only deepen human suffering but also fuel regional instability and mass migration toward wealthier nations.

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