The number of refugees and displaced people in the world exceeded 80 million in mid-2020, a record high, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Nations reported Wednesday.

In a statement, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, regretted that the world had reached "this dark turning point," warning that the situation would worsen "if world leaders did not stop wars."

"The international community is unable to maintain peace," he added, stressing that forced population movements have doubled over the last decade.

At the beginning of the year, the number of people forced to leave their homes due to persecution, conflicts, and human rights violations was 79.5 million, and increased to 80 million in mid-2020, according to a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

This number includes 45.7 million internally displaced people, 29.6 million refugees and other people forced to leave their country, as well as 4.2 million asylum seekers.

"The existing and new conflicts, as well as the coronavirus, have had tragic consequences for their lives in the year 2020," the UNHCR statement said.

Despite the urgent appeal made by the UN Secretary-General in March for a worldwide ceasefire during the pandemic, conflicts and persecutions have continued.

Violence in Syria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Somalia and Yemen caused new displacements and refugees during the first half of this year.

This trend was also recorded in the central Sahel region of Africa, where civilians are subjected to brutal violence, especially rape and physical liquidation, according to the commission.

The report also stressed that some of the measures taken in the context of combating the Covid-19 epidemic have made it difficult for refugees to enjoy security.

In the midst of the first wave of the pandemic in April, 168 countries closed their borders completely or partially and 90 countries did not exempt asylum seekers from these procedures.

Since then, thanks to the support and experience of the High Commissioner, 111 countries have created solutions to ensure the continuation of the asylum application system, in part or in full, while ensuring that the necessary measures are taken to curb the spread of the virus.

Despite these measures, asylum applications decreased by a third compared to the same period in 2019.