UN: Refugees, asylum seekers and displaced people at record high

More than 70 million people around the world had to leave their homes because of war, persecution or conflict in 2018, according to new figures.

The aid organisation UNHCR - which is the United Nation's (UN's) Refugee Agency - says the number is the highest that the organisation has seen in its almost 70-year history, and 2.3 million higher than the year before.

There are many reasons that people might have to leave their homes - for example, conflict, famine, natural disasters (like an earthquake or tsunami), or being persecuted or ill-treated because of who they are.

The 70 million people who had to leave their homes last year are divided into three groups - refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced people.

The number is equal to about 25 people forced to leave their lives behind every minute.

Millions of people have had to leave their homes in Yemen because of fighting in the country, like this girl and her sister

Read on to find out more about the issue.

Refugees

Refugees are people who are forced to leave their country because of war, conflict or persecution.

The number of refugees worldwide in 2018 was reported as 25.9 million.

Around two in every three people came from just five countries - Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar and Somalia.

Asylum seekers

The second group is 3.5 million asylum seekers.

An asylum seeker is a person who has fled their home country, entered another country and applied for the right to international protection and to stay in that country.

Venezuela is going through one of the worst political and economic crises in modern history

The greatest number of new asylum applications in 2018 was from Venezuela.

The UNHCR thinks that the figure of 70 million could, in fact, be higher for 2018, as the number of people who have had to leave their homes in Venezuela is only partly reflected in the statistics.

Internally displaced people

The third group included in the agency's figure is made up of internally displaced persons - or IDPs.

These people have been displaced within their own country. Estimates suggest there are 41.3 million internally displaced people around the world.

Ethiopia had the highest number of newly displaced people in 2018, at more than 1.5 million. The main reason for people leaving their homes in Ethiopia was violence between different communities.