Today is the United Nations World Refugee Day, and for the first time since 2002, the number of refugees around the world is increasing, thanks in large part to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to a new report by the UN High Commission on Refugees, the number now approaches 10 million people, a 14% rise in the over last year.

The largest group of refugees are as follows:

• Afghans - 2.1 million
  
• Iraqis - 1.5 million
  
• Sudanese - 686,000
  
• Somalis - 460,000

And that is only counting refugees. When stateless and internally displaced persons are counted, "persons of concern" according to the report, the figure is about 32.9 million globally.

World Refugee doesn't seem to be getting a lot of coverage in the U.S. mainstream media, but at least the refugee crisis in Iraq is on the radar. CNN's lead story today is about Iraqi refugees struggling to cope in new lands. They also are running an article about how refugee illnesses are often misdiagnosed in the U.S.

Displacement is an often overlooked tragedy of war, but it is a tragic consequence that we need to be reminded of. These aren't soldiers or terrorists or insurgents. They're average people who face the consequences of wars far more directly than the decisions makers who set the wars in motion. They're the reason why no nation should ever rush to war without exhausting all other alternatives.