The number of refugees today is the highest it has ever been at over 65 million people, according to a report released by the United Nation's Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Monday.
This marks the first time the number of refugees has ever surpassed 60 million, the UNHCR said. And more than half of the refugees were children.
The report comes from a study that was concluded at the end of 2015. At the end of 2014, 59.5 million individuals were displaced, showing an increase of almost 6 million refugees in just one year.
The UNHCR pointed to three reasons for the unprecedented number of refugees. First, refugees that have been fleeing long-standing conflicts in places such as Somalia and Afghanistan see no sign of being resolved. Second, new conflicts have erupted in other areas, such as in Syria, Central African Republic, Ukraine, and South Sudan, among others. And third, the rate at which countries and organizations have been finding ways to help refugees has been "on a falling trend," the UNHCR said.
"At sea, a frightening number of refugees and migrants are dying each year; on land, people fleeing war are finding their way blocked by closed borders," said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. "Closing borders does not solve the problem."
"The willingness of nations to work together not just for refugees but for the collective human interest is what's being tested today, and it's this spirit of unity that badly needs to prevail," Grandi added.
Turkey was found to be the host country with the most refugees, as almost 2.5 million refugees were numbered to have settled there in 2015. Almost one in five individuals living in Lebanon are refugees, making it a nation that "hosted more refugees compared to its population than any other country," according to the UNHCR.
The evangelical community has shown support in hosting and welcoming refugees over the past year. Most recently, the Southern Baptist Convention approved a resolution to encourage member churches to welcome refugees during its annual meeting that took place from June 14 to 15.
Earlier this year in January, evangelicals gathered at a summit called the 'GC2' Summit -- standing for the Great Commandment and Great Commission -- hosted by the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism, the Humanitarian Disaster Institute at Wheaton College, World Vision, and LifeWay Research, where they discussed how churches could most effectively connect with and serve refugees.
"We acknowledge that there are genuine security concerns and encourage governments to be stewards of safety, but we also observe that choosing to come to North America as refugees would be among the least effective ways for those who intend to do us harm," a joint statement signed by a coalition of evangelicals from the GC2 Summit states. Representatives from LifeWay Research, World Vision, World Relief, The Wesleyan Church, the Southern Baptist Convention, the Assemblies of God, the Humanitarian Disaster Institute, and The Billy Graham Center for Evangelism, were among the signatories.
"We distinguish that the refugees fleeing this violence are not our enemies; they are victims," the statement continues. "We call for Christians to support ministries showing the love of Jesus to the most vulnerable, those in desperate need, and the hurting. This is what Jesus did; He came to the hurting and brought peace to those in despair."
