‘Efficiency has limits’: UNHCR chief warns refugee protection is buckling under cuts

The money is running out faster than needs are growing: with 117 million men, women and children now forced from their homes, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has received just $3 billion of the $8.5 billion it needs this year – and its chief, Barham Salih, warns that the global support system for asylum-seekers risks buckling.Protection at riskUNHCR was created after the Second World War with the pledge that people fleeing persecution should be protected and not sent back to places where they might be in danger. Today, that pledge is under strain as deep funding cuts take effect.In his first keynote address to UNHCR’s Executive Committee meeting in Geneva on Monday, Mr. Salih stressed that the world’s most vulnerable are going without the help they need.“There is…a difference between doing more with less and being asked to do the impossible,” he said, while also highlighting the “exceptionally difficult year” at the agency, marked by the departure of 8,000 staff since 2024.Cost of cuts in Sudan, Chad and beyondHe added: “In Sudan, insufficient funding threatens specialised medical care, legal assistance and psychological support for more than 50,000 survivors of conflict-related sexu...