In 2025, South Sudan continued to face multiple, overlapping shocks and trends that worsened the humanitarian situation and increased the needs of vulnerable communities.
In 2025, the MENA region faced overlapping crises including conflict, displacement, economic collapse, disease outbreaks, and climate shocks, placing children at risk and disrupting access to services.
As of 31 December, over 1.3 million Syrians have returned back home since December 2024, with more than 3.7 million registered Syrian refugees continuing to reside in host countries in the region.
The February 2026 airstrikes on Iran triggered a rapid escalation of risks across the region, intensifying gender-based violence (GBV) exposure in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, while further degrading already fragile protection systems and service delivery structures.
As of early 2026, 16.5 million require assistance, while over 1.4 million refugees and 1.7 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) have returned since December 2024.
Health care in the Middle East and wider region has come under attack about once every six hours on average since conflict escalated a month ago across Lebanon, Iran, and Israel, Save the Children said.
As of 12 March, UNHCR estimates that 1,524,736 individuals have returned to Syria from other countries since the political transition in Syria on 8 December 2024. The main governorate of return remains Damascus followed by Idleb, Aleppo, Rural Damascus and Homs.
The recent escalation of hostilities across Asia and the Middle East has led to a marked deterioration in the humanitarian situation. The affected areas already host 24.6 million forcibly displaced people, many of whom already face significant protection risks and humanitarian needs, alongside host communities.
Renewed hostilities between armed actors have intensified across northern and central South Sudan since late December 2025. Sustained fighting and aerial bombardment in parts of Jonglei State have triggered a sharp deterioration in security conditions, large-scale displacement, and widespread civilian flight.
As of 5 February, UNHCR estimates that 1,413,967 individuals have returned to Syria since 8 December 2024 while 1,712,744 internally displaced persons have returned home.
As of 3 February, around 280,000 people have been displaced as a result of the Jonglei conflict following renewed fighting and airstrikes since 29 December 2025, according to the RRC.
At the crossroads of Africa and Europe, Tunisia is exposed to complex movement patterns involving refugees and migrants along the central Mediterranean route.
Middle East and North Africa offers a comprehensive, evidence-based analysis of one of the world’s most complex and dynamic mobility landscapes where labour migration, protracted displacement, environmental stressors and socioeconomic transitions converge.
As of the end of December 2025, South Sudan hosts 605,062 refugees and asylum-seekers across 161,400 households, settled in 29 locations nationwide. This includes 601,814 registered refugees and 3,248 asylum-seekers.
South Sudan continues to face severe humanitarian emergencies driven by climate shocks, relentless violence, multiple disease outbreaks and a struggling economy.
After more than a decade of conflict, Yemen remains one of the world’s most complex and protracted humanitarian crises. The country continues to face the compounded impacts of conflict, climate change, economic collapse, and the near-total breakdown of public services and institutions.
In November, an estimated 5.97 million people (42 per cent of the population) face Crisis or worse Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Phase 3+, including about 1.3 million in Emergency (IPC Phase 4).
