World The United Nations Refugee Agency says the number of people displaced from their homes worldwide has reached a staggering new high of over 100 million — that’s up from 89 million just a few months ago, due in part to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the growing food crisis. This is United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi.

Filippo Grandi: “Will this also cause people to move? Now, it’s very difficult to tell, but I — unfortunately, I cannot imagine how, if you have a food crisis on top of everything that I have described, right? War, human rights, climate, you name it — on top of that, you have a food crisis, it will just accelerate the trends that are described in this report and that we have seen accelerating already in the first few months of the year.”

The surge in global refugees comes as parts of Africa are facing its worst drought in decades at a time when food and energy costs are soaring. The United Nations has warned 350,000 children in Somalia could die by the end of the summer. A recent report by two U.N. agencies estimated an all-time high of up to 49 million people in 46 countries could now be at risk of falling into famine or famine-like conditions. Earlier this week, Congressmember Ilhan Omar, who is a Somali refugee, tweeted “this should be the biggest story in the world right now.”