Shafaq News / Every second in 2020, more than one person was forced to flee within their own country, bringing the total number of internally displaced people across the world to a record 55 million, according to a report by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) and the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).

Despite travel restrictions linked to the Covid-19 pandemic, 40.5 million people have joined the ranks of the internally displaced, the highest number in a decade, the NGOS said Wednesday in a report.

These internally displaced people now outnumber the 26 million refugees who cross an international border to seek safety.

The pandemic has made data collection difficult and may have caused more people to avoid shelters for fear of becoming infected.

The report points out that three quarters of IDPs were forced to flee by natural disasters, particularly extreme weather events.

"It is shocking that someone has been forced to flee their home within their own country every second of the last year," said NRC boss Jan Egeland in a statement.

"We are failing to protect the most vulnerable from conflict and disaster," he added.