More than 13 million peopleinternally displaced across Asia in2018
10 May 2019, Geneva - Tropical storms, monsoon floods, conflict and violence displaced 13.4
million people across South Asia and East Asia and the Pacific last year, according to a new reportfrom the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) of the Norwegian Refugee Council(NRC).
The Global Report on Internal Displacement reveals that 9.6 million new displacements wererecorded in East Asia and the Pacific, and 3.8 million in South Asia, an overall increase comparedwith 2017.
“It is the same countries affected year after year and, while the relative impacts and resilience torespond varies hugely across the region, over time resources and coping mechanisms are being
eroded. We must invest more heavily in strategies that reduce people’s exposure and vulnerability
to the risks that cause internal displacement, said Alexandra Bilak, IDMC’s director.
East Asia and the Pacific was a disaster hotspot as in previous years, generating more internal
displacement associated with natural hazards than any other region. The Philippines and China
recorded 7.6 million new displacements between them, mostly pre-emptive evacuations as
typhoons approached.
Geophysical events such as earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions accounted for most of the
new displacement in Indonesia, and monsoon rains and flooding displaced hundreds of thousands
more in Myanmar. Japan was struck by an unusually high number of disasters from storms tolandslides, and small island states in the Pacific were also affected by geophysical activity and floods.
Conflict and other forms of violence triggered new displacement in the region on a much smallerscale, mostly in the Philippine region of Mindanao and Myanmar’s Kachin and northern Shan states.
In South Asia, India recorded around 2.8 million new displacements, among the highest figures in theworld. Monsoon floods, particularly in the south-western state of Kerala, and cyclones wereresponsible for the majority. Conflict and communal violence also triggered around 170,000 newdisplacements. The monsoon season also brought significant flooding to both Sri Lanka andBangladesh. Drought triggered 371,000 new displacements in Afghanistan, a similar number to thoseassociated with the country’s ongoing conflict. Intercommunal violence in Pakistan also triggered asimilar number of new displacements to localised floods.
Internal displacement is an increasingly urban phenomenon. Conflict, climate shocks and large-scale
development projects often drive people from rural to urban areas. Dhaka, for example, is thepreferred destination for many IDPs fleeing climate change impacts in coastal regions of Bangladesh.
Displacement can also originate in cities, as was the case in Marawi in the Philippines, where intense
urban warfare was waged by ISIL affiliates in 2017. A year later, reconstruction has begun but
around 65,000 people remained displaced as of the end of 2018.

Rapid urbanisation has increased displacement risk. Cities in East Asia and Pacific are expanding inareas highly exposed to hazards, such as the tropical cyclone belt and the Pacific Ring of Fire. Nordoes urbanisation in South Asia equate with development gains, exposing already vulnerable people
to the risk of secondary displacement in the form of evictions.
“The fact that cities have become sanctuary to more and more internally displaced people
represents a challenge for municipal authorities, but also an opportunity. Leveraging the positiverole that local government can play in finding solutions to displacement will be key to addressing thischallenge in the future,” said Alexandra Bilak.

NOTES TO EDITORS: Regional press releases:
Regional press releases detailing more specific displacement within geographical areas areavailable for sub-Saharan Africa, the Americas, Asia and Middle East and North Africa.

 About IDMC:
The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) is the world's authoritative source of data
and analysis on internal displacement. Since its establishment in 1998, as part of the Norwegian
Refugee Council (NRC), IDMC has offered a rigorous, independent and trusted service to theinternational community. Their work informs policy and operational decisions that improve thelives of the millions of people living in internal displacement, or at risk of becoming displaced inthe future.

 For interviews please contact:
Frankie Parrish, Head of Communications, IDMC
Email: frankie.parrish@idmc.ch
Office: + 41 22 552 36 45
Mobile: +41 78 630 16 78
NRCEmail: info@nrc.noMedia hotline: +47 90 56 23 29
Live interviews can be arranged today with Alexandra Bilak, IDMC’s Director and Jan Egeland,
NRC’s Secretary General.

 Landing page:
From 10 May, visit www.internal-displacement.org/global-report/grid2019 to read anddownload the full report and summary; explore stories of displaced people and access a media
pack, containing global and regional press releases, biographies of spokespeople, photos and broll.

 Follow IDMC on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InternalDisplacement
Twitter: @IDMC_Geneva