New York: Europe and the Arabs
A UNHCR official said that significant funding cuts are depriving the world's most vulnerable refugees of vital support, as they now face greater risks of abuse, poverty, and being forced to return to their homes or embark on new, perilous journeys. According to the UN's daily news bulletin, Elizabeth Tan, UNHCR's director of international protection, said at a press conference: "Two-thirds of refugees find safety in countries neighboring their own, most of which are resource-poor."
She added: "The funding cuts are hitting these refugees and their host communities, which are already under immense pressure." She noted that protection programs have been reduced or eliminated in many areas, leaving women, children, and survivors of violence without support.
Tan said: "In South Sudan, 75 percent of UNHCR's spaces for women and girls are no longer providing services. This means that up to 80,000 victims of rape or violence are not receiving medical care, legal, or economic assistance." According to the UN official, more than half a million refugees have returned to Syria despite the ongoing instability. "However, their sustainable integration depends on improved funding. Support for the monthly return of 20,000 Syrians from Turkey has been affected by funding cuts."
She added that in Jordan, 200,000 women and children have been left without assistance after the closure of 63 humanitarian programs. Tan warned that more than 17.4 million refugee children are at risk, and without timely and quality child protection, there will be long-term consequences for their development.
She reported that in the eastern Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes region, one million vulnerable children—many of them unaccompanied—face an increased threat of abuse and exploitation.
The UN official said, "UNHCR's capacity to protect, register, and respond in emergencies is severely compromised. We must act. Your support can save lives, restore dignity, and give hope to those who have lost everything."