A RECORD number of people have been displaced due to war, violence and persecution for the 12th year in a row, the United Nations refugee agency said today.

The number of people forced to flee their homes has reached 120 million worldwide, equivalent to the population of Japan and up by six million from the year before, due to new conflicts in Sudan and Gaza contributing to the figure.

But Syria remains the world’s largest displacement crisis, with nearly 14 million people driven from their homes since 2011.