Over 660,000 Displaced During Pandemic

FILE PHOTO: A general view of trucks carrying belongings of displaced Syrians, is pictured in the town of Sarmada in Idlib province, Syria, January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A general view of trucks carrying belongings of displaced Syrians, is pictured in the town of Sarmada in Idlib province, Syria, January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo
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Over 660,000 Displaced During Pandemic

FILE PHOTO: A general view of trucks carrying belongings of displaced Syrians, is pictured in the town of Sarmada in Idlib province, Syria, January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A general view of trucks carrying belongings of displaced Syrians, is pictured in the town of Sarmada in Idlib province, Syria, January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi/File Photo

More than 660,000 people have been displaced from their homes in conflict zones around the world since March, despite a UN call for a global ceasefire during the coronavirus pandemic, a top international aid group said Friday.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said its figures showed that armed conflict around the world had continued during the pandemic, even as much of globe went into lockdown.

This was despite a call on March 23 by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for a global ceasefire for the pandemic.

The NRC said a total of 661,000 people have been displaced in 19 countries since then, with the highest number by far in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"At a time when health experts tell us to stay at home, men with guns are forcing hundreds of thousands out of their homes and into extreme vulnerability," said the NRC's Secretary-General Jan Egeland.
"This not only hurts those who are forced to flee, it seriously undermines our joint efforts to combat the virus."

According to Agence France Presse, the NRC accused the UN Security Council of failing to show leadership to encourage peace talks.

"While people are being displaced and killed, powerful members of the UN Security Council squabble like children in a sandbox," Egeland said.

He called on world leaders to "rise to the occasion" and jointly push parties to put down their weapons and unite in protecting all communities from COVID-19.

"Now is not the time for kindergarten politics," he added.

The NRC said it was appealing to UN Security Council members to issue a "clear call" to warring parties to halt the conduct of hostilities and to "settle their conflicts through talks and allow for a systematic response to the pandemic."

In DR Congo alone, clashes between armed groups and the country's military forced 482,000 people to flee their homes, it said.

Meanwhile fighting in Yemen resulted in the displacement of 24,000 people since March 23.

Africa's Lake Chad region has also experienced a surge of displacement, the NRC said, with Chad and Niger worst affected.

Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Syria, Somalia and Myanmar all saw more than 10,000 people displaced in the same period, the group added.



Erdogan, Trump Discuss Ukraine, Syria, Defense Issues, Türkiye Says

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint press conference after a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (unseen) in Ankara, Türkiye, 12 March 2025. (EPA)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint press conference after a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (unseen) in Ankara, Türkiye, 12 March 2025. (EPA)
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Erdogan, Trump Discuss Ukraine, Syria, Defense Issues, Türkiye Says

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint press conference after a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (unseen) in Ankara, Türkiye, 12 March 2025. (EPA)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during a joint press conference after a meeting with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk (unseen) in Ankara, Türkiye, 12 March 2025. (EPA)

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone with US President Donald Trump and discussed efforts to end the war between Russia and Ukraine and to restore stability in Syria, Erdogan's office said on Sunday.

He told Trump that Türkiye supports his "decisive and direct initiatives" to end the war between Russia and Ukraine and that Türkiye will continue to strive for a "just and lasting peace", the statement said.

Erdogan also spoke of "the importance of jointly contributing to the lifting of sanctions on Syria to restore stability, make the new administration functional and support normalization," the statement said, adding that this would enable Syrians to return to their homeland.

Türkiye also expects steps from the United States regarding the fight against terrorism, taking into account Türkiye’s interests, it said.

In the battle against ISIS in Syria, the United States is allied with a Syrian Kurdish militia that Türkiye regards as a terrorist group. Türkiye has sharply criticized this US stance as a betrayal of a NATO ally.

Erdogan said it was necessary to end CAATSA sanctions, finalize Ankara's F-16 procurement process and its re-participation in the F-35 program in order to develop defense industry cooperation between Türkiye and the United States.

Ankara's past purchase of Russian S-400 air defense systems prompted US sanctions and Türkiye’s removal from the F-35 fighter jet program in 2019.