The number of refugees abandoned to “an unbearable existence” has now reached tens of millions according to a damning report from Amnesty International, which claims the world is witnessing the worst refugee crisis since the Second World War.

Amnesty International is urging world leaders to radically overhaul their refugee policies and create a comprehensive global strategy to handle the crisis.

It accused leaders of having abandoned millions to “an unbearable existence” while leaving thousands more to die by failing to provide basic human protections to people fleeing their homes.

Syrians flee to Turkey as Kurds storm Isis strongholds Show all 15 1 /15 Syrians flee to Turkey as Kurds storm Isis strongholds Syrians flee to Turkey as Kurds storm Isis strongholds Syrian-Turkish border Syrian Kurds are searched as they cross the border between Syria and Turkey at the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province Syrians flee to Turkey as Kurds storm Isis strongholds Syrian-Turkish border Syrian Kurds carry their belongings as they cross the border between Syria and Turkey at the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province Syrians flee to Turkey as Kurds storm Isis strongholds Syrian-Turkish border A Syrian Kurdish child cries as Turkish police search their bags after they crossed the border between Syria and Turkey at the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province Syrians flee to Turkey as Kurds storm Isis strongholds Syrian-Turkish border A Turkish police officer gestures as they screen Syrian Kurds crossing the border between Syria and Turkey at the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province Syrians flee to Turkey as Kurds storm Isis strongholds Syrian-Turkish border A Syrian child receives a vaccine at the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province Syrians flee to Turkey as Kurds storm Isis strongholds Syrian-Turkish border A Syrian Kurdish woman crosses the border between Syria and Turkey at the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province Syrians flee to Turkey as Kurds storm Isis strongholds Syrian-Turkish border A Syrian Kurdish woman carries her belongings as she crosses the border between Syria and Turkey at the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province Syrians flee to Turkey as Kurds storm Isis strongholds Syrian-Turkish border A Red Crescent worker (L) helps Syrian refugees as they cross the Syrian-Turkish border near Sanliurfa Syrians flee to Turkey as Kurds storm Isis strongholds Syrian-Turkish border Syrian Kurdish refugees enter Turkey near Suruc Syrians flee to Turkey as Kurds storm Isis strongholds Syrian-Turkish border Turkish Red Crescent member delivers water to Syrian Kurds fled from clashes between the Isis militants and pro-Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) forces, waiting at the Turkey-Syria crossing in Suruc province of Sanliurfa Syrians flee to Turkey as Kurds storm Isis strongholds Syrian-Turkish border A Kurdish Syrian refugee covers her face as she waits for transport during a sand storm on the Turkish-Syrian border near the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province Syrians flee to Turkey as Kurds storm Isis strongholds Syrian-Turkish border Syrian Kurds walk after crossing into Turkey at the Turkish-Syrian border near the southeastern town of Suruc in Sanliurfa province Syrians flee to Turkey as Kurds storm Isis strongholds Syrian-Turkish border A young Syrian Kurdish refugee enters Turkey at the Yumurtalik crossing gate near Suruc in Turkey Syrians flee to Turkey as Kurds storm Isis strongholds Syrian-Turkish border Syrian refugees wait at the Syrian-Turkish border near Sanliurfa Syrians flee to Turkey as Kurds storm Isis strongholds Syrian-Turkish border Syrian refugees wait at the Syrian-Turkish border near Sanliurfa

The report, hosted online by the Guardian, focuses on the crisis in Syria and estimates that more than four million people have now fled the country due to conflict, 95 per cent of which are living in the neighbouring countries of Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, which are in turn struggling to cope with the influx. In Lebanon, Syrian refugees now account for one in five people.

It claims these host countries have received “almost no meaningful international support” and that the UN’s humanitarian appeal for Syrian refugees was only 23 per cent funded by 3 June this year.

Turkish security forces used water cannon and fired warning shots to push Syrians back from the frontier as thousands massed at a border crossing to escape escalating fighting (Bulent Kilic/AFP /Getty)

A Syrian refugee in Piraeus, near Athens (Reuters)

The number of people forcibly displaced from their homes exceeded 50 million in 2013, Amnesty International said, while millions more have been displaced due to the conflict and crises across the globe, it claimed in The Global Refugee Crisis: A Conspiracy of Conflict.

“We are witnessing the worst refugee crisis of our era, with millions of women, men and children struggling to survive amid brutal wars, networks of people traffickers and governments who pursue selfish political interests instead of showing basic human compassion, Salil Shetty, Amnesty International’s secretary general, said in a statement.

She said the refugee crisis is one of the defining challenges of the 21st century, “but the response of the international community has been a shameful failure”.

The report also cited the refugee crisis in Africa, where people fleeing conflict and persecution in countries such as South Sudan, the Central African Republic (CAR), Nigeria and the Burundi have added “hundreds of thousands” to the refugee populations currently living in Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other Sub-Saharan African countries.

Turkey has taken in some 1.8 million Syrian refugees since the conflict erupted in 2011 (Photo: BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images) ((Photo: BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images))

A Syrian child holds a drawing as he waits to disembark from Belgian Navy vessel Godetia in Italy

Amnesty International is calling for an international summit on the global refugee crisis; a global ratification of the Refugee Convention; for states to guarantee fundamental rights and access to services for refugees; an absolute commitment from states to prioritise saving people in distress over implementing immigration policies; to combat trafficking; to fulfil all resettlement needs identified by the UNHR and to combat xenophobia in countries receiving refugees.