Geneva, June 28 (RHC)-- New figures show the number of refugees is at its highest level since World War II. The United Nations says more than 51 million people are displaced worldwide, half of them children.

The High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, unveiled the figures, saying: "If we have for the first time since the Second World War more than 50 million people displaced by war or by persecution, it’s because we are witnessing a multiplication of new conflicts in the world. And global conflict generates global displacement. And at the same time, old conflicts seem never to die."

According to reports, Syrians accounted for the bulk of the world’s 2.5 million new refugees last year.