Over 117 million people have been forced from their homes by conflict, violence and persecution, the United Nations refugee chief warned the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) today, as dwindling humanitarian resources strain assistance to displaced populations and host countries.
‘Humanitarian Action Cannot Indefinitely Compensate for Unresolved Wars’
Addressing the Committee for the first time since assuming his mandate, Barham Salih, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, warned of increasingly protracted conflicts, prolonged displacement and shrinking humanitarian resources. “When peace fails, people move”, he declared, pointing to wars and conflicts in Sudan, Ukraine and Yemen.
Humanitarian organizations can protect displaced people, provide assistance and help families survive, he said, “but humanitarian action cannot indefinitely compensate for unresolved wars and conflicts”. Ending wars requires political leadership, diplomacy and sustained engagement by States, regional organizations and the United Nations.
Calling for a closer connection between refugee protection and peacebuilding, he highlighted the plight of millions of refugees living in prolonged exile, often without the right to work, freedom of movement or access to public services. “This is neither sustainable nor dignified,” he stressed.
Outlining UNHCR’s “50 by 35” strategic vision, he called for reducing by half, by 2035, the number of refugees in protracted displacement who depend on humanitarian assistance through greater self-reliance and lasting solutions.
Access to employment and education enables refugees to build futures and contribute to local economies, he said. “Host countries need development investment”, he stressed, urging closer cooperation among international financial institutions, humanitarian organizations and the private sector.
“For many refugees, their deepest hope remains to go home”, he continued. Some 1.8 million refugees have returned to Syria since 2024, but “return will endure only if people have security, documentation, housing, livelihoods and functioning services”, he cautioned. Nearly 7 million people have returned to Afghanistan since late 2023, yet sustainable reintegration requires greater investment and the full participation of women and girls in society.
Elsewhere, conditions for return remain unmet, he noted, citing Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and generations of Sahrawi refugees who have lived in camps near Tindouf, Algeria, for more than half a century. Bangladesh must not be left to shoulder the burden alone, he stressed.
“Refugees must not become an instrument of political disputes. The rights of refugees, their choices, their dignity must remain at the centre”, he declared.
Despite severe resource constraints, UNHCR remains committed to its humanitarian mandate, he said, highlighting efforts to reduce costs. “But efficiency has limits”, he warned, emphasizing that refugees dependent on assistance – rather than institutions – ultimately bear the consequences of reduced funding.
He appealed for greater international solidarity, predictable humanitarian financing, development investment and responsibility-sharing.
“Refugees rarely ask for extraordinary things. They want safety. They want their children educated. They want to work and support their families. And they want the chance to determine their own future”, he said, adding: “Our responsibility is to protect that possibility.”
‘African Countries Continue to Bear Disproportionate Responsibilities’
In the ensuing interactive dialogue, delegates from refugee-hosting countries warned that humanitarian funding shortages are placing growing pressure on already strained national resources.
Namibia’s representative, speaking for the African Group, voiced regret that “the cost of a 64 per cent funding gap is forced disproportionately on host countries and local communities that are already shouldering the greatest responsibility”.
Nigeria’s delegate similarly warned that “African countries continue to bear disproportionate responsibilities despite limited resources”, citing crises in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin. “Equitable responsibility sharing demands predictable, adequate, sustained financial and technical assistance”, she stressed.
Cameroon’s representative highlighted how global underfunding affects a country hosting 500,000 refugees alongside 1 million internally displaced persons, calling for stronger burden-sharing measures.
Pakistan’s delegate, recalling his country’s decades of hosting millions of Afghan refugees, stated: “International solidarity must translate into predictable financing, meaningful burden sharing and tangible support for host communities.”
Bangladesh’s representative reported that the country continues to host over 1.2 million Rohingya from Myanmar, urging greater international political will to create conditions for their safe and voluntary return.
Myanmar’s delegate warned that the military junta continues to conduct airstrikes and commit human rights violations against civilians, making “the safe, voluntary and dignified return of displaced persons” impossible. He urged the international community to halt arms supplies, jet fuel and financial support to the junta to create conditions for safe returns.
Delegates Highlight Obstacles to Refugee Returns
Syria’s representative highlighted UNHCR’s critical role in assisting Syrians at home and abroad. “We call upon the international community to extend its support to UNHCR and for its projects and activities in Syria”, he said.
Sudan’s delegate reported that 6 million Sudanese people are awaiting the opportunity to return home amid deadly attacks by the Rapid Support Forces. He also called for lifting unilateral coercive measures that obstruct reconstruction efforts.
Turning to the protracted displacement of Sahrawi refugees, Algeria’s representative stressed that lasting solutions must respect refugees’ dignity, liberty and right to self-determination. UNHCR must resist solutions presented as lasting if they disregard those rights, he said.
Morocco’s delegate, meanwhile, highlighted conditions in the Tindouf camps, citing high rates of anaemia and malnutrition among children. He asserted that the host State had prevented UNHCR from fully carrying out its mandate.
Ukraine War Leaves Millions Displaced
Ukraine’s representative warned that “Russia’s war of aggression has left some 10 million Ukrainians displaced within Ukraine or abroad”, urging international pressure on Moscow to pursue a just and lasting peace grounded in the United Nations Charter.
“Romania continues to find itself on the frontline of the regional response to the humanitarian consequences of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine”, said that country’s delegate, also noting its efforts to provide social services to those displaced across the border.
The Russian Federation’s representative pointed to his country’s contributions to UNHCR despite “illegitimate restrictions imposed against our nation”, pledging continued support to the extent possible.
Experts Warn of Racial Discrimination at Borders, Mercenaries’ Links to Organized Crime
Earlier, Isabelle Mamadou, Chair of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, warned that the legacies of slavery and colonialism remain embedded in contemporary migration policies.
“The dangers faced by African migrants and migrants of African descent along migration routes are not inevitable. They are the result of policy choices that perpetuate racial discrimination”, she said.
Migrants face racial profiling, arbitrary detention, labour exploitation and violence, she reported, while biometrics and artificial intelligence risk reproducing discrimination in border management.
“We cannot speak of repairing the injustices of the past while we continue to reproduce their consequences at our borders”, she stressed, calling for safe migration pathways, access to essential services and independent oversight of digital surveillance.
Michelle Small, Chair-Rapporteur of the Working Group on the use of mercenaries, warned of growing links among mercenaries, some private military and security companies and transnational organized crime.
The convergence is “an evolving threat to the rule of law and international peace and security”, she said, pointing to killings, enforced disappearances, torture and human trafficking. “But it is civilians who pay the highest price”, she observed.
She highlighted so-called “anti-crime missions”, in which private military and security companies conduct counter-narcotics and counterterrorism operations abroad on behalf of foreign Governments, “raising serious questions about sovereignty, transparency and accountability”.
She also warned of “crime-as-a-service”, whereby military, security and recruitment operations are provided to criminal networks, including cartels and scam compounds, often exploiting vulnerable people, including children.
Also addressing the Committee were Gaynel Curry, Chair of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent, and Tracie Keesee, Acting Chair of the International Independent Expert Mechanism to Advance Racial Justice and Equality in Law Enforcement.
