The sheer scale of the number of people displaced by conflicts around the world is the main area of concern in Amnesty International Ireland's annual report.

Executive director, Colm O'Gorman, said the report into the state of human rights in 159 countries in 2012, makes for bleak reading.

"More people are fleeing their homes in the hope of finding a safe haven," he said. "42 million people globally are currently displaced because of conflict - the highest since the mid 1990's. We particularly highlight the situation in Syria where 4 million people have been internally displaced by the fighting there.
An estimated 1.3 million people fled to neighbouring countries where they're living in appalling conditions. And coupled with that, we're seeing a gross failure on the part of the U.N. Security council to act, or even condemn the levels of violations we see in countries like Syria."

Mr O'Gorman said in Ireland there are failures in relation to womens rights in particular. "We are concerned that despite the fact that 1 in 5 women in Ireland say they were abused by a current or former partner, Ireland remains one of the minority of countries in Europe that hasn't signed the Istanbul Convention." he said. "Secondly, the report references the appalling case of the death of Savita Halapanavar in Galway last year. In that context, we would highlight that in the proposed legislation, the Government
has to ensure that the interpretation of "real and substantial risk to the lives of women" guarantees that they won't be denied timely care."

Mr O'Gorman said Amnesty is concerned about Ireland's proposed abortion legislation.