Behind the numbers: refugees in the world
Published on
Translation by:
Jennifer-Anne Dove
Around 60 millon people have had to leave their country as a result of war, conflict or persecution. This number is roughly equal to the population of Italy and means that each minute, 30 are forced to abandon their homes for these reasons. These are invisible stories that are spread throughout the world.
In Europe, around 13 billon euros have been invested in the last 15 years to reinforce the borders to prevent migrants crossing. As such it has been highlighted by a journalist team that has released the investigation project The Migrants Files, published in the Spanish newspaper El Confidencial.
The gangs that traffic the migrants have pocketed around 16 billion euros. Fences, police, monitoring systems and guns, are only some of the methods used to stop this flow. In 2014 some 600,000 people tried to enter the continent.
60 millon people left their country in 2014. To put it another way, one in every 122 people on Earth is a refugee. Let that sink in.
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This article is part of our Behind the Numbers series, illustrating newsworthy stats with artistic design and a brief analysis.
Translated from Cifras que hablan por sí solas: desplazados forzosos en el mundo