World's forgotten millions

Those able to return to their homes were equally matched by those forced to leave, meaning that the number of internally displaced people around the world remained at around 25 million for the fourth year in a row.

"Internally displaced people still fall between cracks of the international protection and assistance system," said Elisabeth Rasmusson, the head of the Global IDP Project, the leading international body monitoring the phenomenon.

There are twice as many internally displaced as refugees who flee their countries. But unlike refugees, the internally displaced "cannot count on a functioning international system of protection and assistance," the project said in a report. In 14 countries they were ignored even by the United Nations.

Nor can they count on often indifferent governments to protect them. In fact, in 13 countries, including Myanmar, Nepal, Sudan and Colombia, authorities were responsible for the displacement either directly or through militias.

The overwhelming majority of the internally displaced people, some 22 million, have been homless for more than a year, and many of them for a decade or even longer, the report said.

The year 2004 was overshadowed by the dramatic escalation of the conflict in Sudans Darfur region, which has caused the death of as many as 300,000 people and uprooted close to two million, among them some 1.7 million internally displaced, the report said.

It said they were "among the most vulnerable victims of conflict, and constitute arguably the largest at-risk population in the world. The abstract term "internal displacement", created to distinguish IDPs from refugees, fails to convey the immense human suffering most internally displaced people are forced to undergo.

"The act of displacement itself often is accompanied by violence and the most serious human rights violations such as arbitrary killings, torture, kidnappings and rape," the report added.

"Traumatised and fearing for their lives, every year millions of people, most of them women and children, are forced to leave behind their homes, land and other belongings to seek refuge in more secure areas."

With over 13 million IDPs in 19 countries, Africa remained the continent by far most affected by internal displacement in 2004.

Colombia, the country with the worlds second largest IDP population after Sudan, accounted for most of Latin Americas 3.7 million internally displaced people and nearly all new displacements recorded in the region during 2004.

In Asia, the outbreak or intensification of conflicts led to new displacements, in particular in Nepal, Indonesia, Pakistan and Myanmar.

Iraq still accounted for about half of the Middle East regions 2.1 million internally dislaced people. In 2004, hundreds of thousands of people were newly displaced by military operations against suspected militants in Fallujah and other cities.

The Geneva-based Global IDP Project was established by the Norwegian Refugee Council.