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Globally, $1.4 billion of the agency\u2019s programmes are being shuttered or put on hold, UNHCR said in a new report.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can’t stop water, you can\u2019t stop sanitation, but we’re having to take decisions when it comes, for example, to shelter,\u201d<\/strong> said UNHCR Director of External Relations, Dominique Hyde.<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re have people arriving on a daily basis from Sudan, from the Darfur regions\u2026arriving in Chad, not able to be given any shelter.\u201d<\/p>\n In an urgent appeal for flexible funding from donors, Ms. Hyde noted that\u00a0up to 11.6 million refugees and others risk losing access this year to direct humanitarian assistance from UNHCR. The figure represents about one-third of those reached by the organization last year.<\/p>\n On the Sudan-Chad border, the UN agency is now unable to provide \u201ceven basic shelter\u201d to more than six in 10 refugees fleeing the conflict. Thousands more vulnerable people have been left stranded in remote border locations in South Sudan, too. \u201cIf we just had a bit more support, we could get them to settlements,\u201d<\/strong> she insisted.<\/p>\n Because of the funding cuts, basic activities have already been hit hard. These include refugee registration, child protection, legal counselling and prevention of and responses to gender-based violence.<\/p>\n In South Sudan, 75 per cent of safe spaces for women and girls supported by\u00a0UNHCR\u00a0have closed, leaving up to 80,000 refugee women and girls without access to medical care, psychosocial support, legal aid, material support or income-generating activities. This includes\u00a0survivors of sexual violence, UNHCR noted.<\/p>\n \u201cBehind these numbers are real lives hanging in the balance,\u201d<\/strong> Ms. Hyde said.<\/p>\n \u201cFamilies are seeing the support they relied on vanish, forced to choose between feeding their children, buying medicines or paying rent, while hope for a better future slips out of sight. Every sector and operation has been hit and critical support is being suspended to keep life-saving aid going.\u201d<\/p>\n Many of those impacted by the war in Sudan have taken the decision to move from Chad and Egypt to Libya, into the hands of people smugglers who dangerously overload boats with desperate people seeking to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat we’re observing now is that in terms of arrivals in Europe of\u2026Sudanese refugees, [it] has increased since the beginning of the year by about 170 per cent compared to the first six months of 2024<\/strong>,\u201d said UNHCR spokesperson Olga Sarrado.<\/p>\n In camps hosting Myanmar\u2019s Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, education for some 230,000 children could now be suspended. Meanwhile in Lebanon\u00a0\u201cUNHCR\u2019s entire health programme is at risk of being shuttered by the end of the year\u201d, Ms. Hyde continued.<\/p>\n In Niger and other emergency settings, cuts in financial aid for shelter have left families in overcrowded structures or at risk of homelessness. In Ukraine, financial aid has also been slashed, \u201cleaving uprooted families unable to afford rent, food or medical treatment\u201d, Ms. Hyde noted.<\/p>\n Assistance to returning Afghans has also become another victim of the global aid cuts. Around 1.9 million Afghan nationals have returned home or been forced back since the start of the year, \u201cbut financial aid for returnees is barely enough to afford food, let alone rent, undermining efforts to ensure stable reintegration\u201d, UNHCR said.<\/p>\n Overall, several UNHCR operations hit by severe funding gaps have now had to curtail investments in strengthening asylum systems and promoting regularization efforts.<\/p>\n In Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Mexico, any prolonged lack of legal status means prolonged insecurity for people on the move, the UN agency said. This results in deepening poverty \u201cas refugees are excluded from formal employment and greater exposure to exploitation and abuse,\u201d Ms. Hyde explained.<\/p>\nEvery aid sector hit<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Libya influx<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Support slashed from Niger to Ukraine<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Legal aid halted<\/strong><\/h2>\n