he United Nations refugee agency says persecution and conflict in places such as Syria and Afghanistan raised the total number of refugees and internally displaced people worldwide to a record 65.3 million at the end of last year. The previous year, 2014, had already seen the highest number of refugees worldwide since World War II, with 60 million displaced people.

But last year – when Lebanon, Turkey and European countries staggered under the arrival of large numbers of refugees – topped that record by nearly 10 percent, the UNHCR said on Monday in unveiling its annual Global Trends Report.

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