UN refugee chief Barham Salih said U.S. funding cuts are complicating UNHCR’s work amid record levels of displacement and as Sudan’s war enters its fourth year.
In an interview published Friday, Salih told FRANCE 24 the cuts had a “drastic” effect on the U.N. refugee agency and made its work harder. He also said the European Union had increased its support for UNHCR.
Salih cited shortages in refugee communities in Chad and Ethiopia. In Adré, Chad, UNHCR could supply only eight liters of water per person daily, he said. In Gambela, Ethiopia, he described a community of about 60,000 refugees with one doctor.
Salih said forced displacement worldwide had reached a record level. The Sudan conflict, he said, is in its fourth year and has displaced millions. He said hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, maimed and traumatized in the war.
He called the conflict “shameful” and urged a political solution to end the fighting. Salih also warned that asylum was under threat amid debate he characterized as politicized and weaponized. He argued that asylum protections and immigration controls can complement each other.
Salih, a former Iraqi president who was once a refugee, became head of UNHCR in January.
