GENEVA – UN refugee chief Filippo Grandi warned that bowing to global pressure to reform the Refugee Convention and asylum system would be a “catastrophic error,” calling recent proposals an attack on international solidarity. Speaking at the UNHCR annual meeting in Geneva on October 6, Grandi cautioned against moves,led by the United States,to narrow asylum rights established after World War II.
He said pressures to limit the right to asylum “are not made in good faith,” highlighting that many nations continue to shelter refugees despite shrinking resources. The statement follows US efforts urging countries to restrict asylum claims to the first nation of entry and make asylum status temporary, alongside plans to reduce refugee admissions to a record low of 7,500 for the fiscal year.
At the same meeting, chairman Marcelo Vazquez Bermudez revealed that severe budget shortfalls have forced UNHCR to cut nearly 5,000 jobs, over a quarter of its workforce and scale back operations across 185 offices globally. Grandi warned that the agency expects 2025 funding to decline by 25 percent to US$3.9 billion, stressing the strain on humanitarian response as conflicts escalate in Congo, Myanmar, Sudan, Ukraine, and Gaza.