World Refugee Day 2013: ‘Needs of these people are overwhelming’

The United Nations marks World Refugee Day on Thursday.

"In all the years I have worked on behalf of refugees, this is the most worrying I have ever witnessed," said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres, speaking in Jordan Thursday. "The needs of these people are overwhelming; their anguish is unbearable."

The world's refugee population is on the incline, with a staggering 45.2 million people displaced from their homes.

While the brutal civil war in Syria continues to displace thousands of refugees at an alarming rate, other countries such as Afghanistan, Somalia and Sudan continue to deal with internally or externally displaced people.

A UN report released Wednesday showed that 7.6 million people were displaced in 2012 alone, with around 20,000 being displaced every day.

Perhaps the most disturbing development in 2012 was the highest number of asylum applications for unaccompanied children on UNHCR's record. The refugee agency counted 21,300 applications for children who were unaccompanied or separated from their parents in 2012.