New York City ? An estimated 26 million people uprooted by conflict or human rights violations remained in their own countries in 2008, far more than the 16 million who crossed borders and became refugees under U.N. protection in 2007, according to a report Friday by a European aid organization.

The 26 million who sought shelter elsewhere in their country — becoming internally displaced people, or IDPs — are the responsibility of their own governments. But the report by the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Center said some governments are unable or unwilling to help them. In eight countries, authorities don’t even acknowledge they have been uprooted.

“The alarming size and condition of the world’s IDP population shows that national and international efforts to diminish and protect these vulnerable groups have largely failed,” said Elisabeth Rasmusson, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, which established the monitoring center in 1998 at the U.N.’s request.

The report said three countries account for 45 percent of the world’s IDPs: Sudan with 4.9 million displaced, Colombia with between 2.7 and 4.4 million, and Iraq with 2.8 million.