Over the past 20 years, the number of people forcibly displaced from their homes worldwide due to conflict has reached a figure in excess of 90 million. This has more than doubled since the early 1990s, a time period labelled “the decade of displacement” by the United Nations Refugee Agency. This rate of increase shows no signs of slowing and has been fuelled by the current situations in Syria and Ukraine.
Whatever the reason for displacement, there is no doubt that being forced to leave your homeland is traumatic. The journey to a safer place can be physically and emotionally challenging. Shock and denial are often the first emotions experienced by refugees.
