8.3 mn refugees face loss of vital aid amid ‘severe’ funding cuts: UN

Nearly 8.3 million refugees and other forcibly displaced people are at risk of losing vital assistance from UNHCR, the UN refugee agency warned on Tuesday, as severe funding shortages weaken protection services worldwide.

“UNHCR’s ability to protect and assist refugees, internally displaced people (IDPs) and stateless people is being eroded by a sustained and worsening funding shortfall,” the agency said in a report outlining the impact of budget cuts.

UNHCR’s available funding declined from $5.2 billion in 2024 to $3.9 billion in 2025, while the number of people under its protection remains close to historically high levels.

The agency said it requires $8.5 billion this year to support refugees, but had received only 32%, or $2.7 billion, by the end of July.

As a result, nearly 8.3 million forcibly displaced people are “at risk of losing access to UNHCR assistance,” the agency said.

“Continued severe funding cuts are pushing refugee support and protection structures towards breaking point in the world’s main displacement situations,” it warned.

UNHCR said it had introduced reforms and prioritisation measures to preserve its most critical operations. However, it said the scale and prolonged nature of the funding gap meant even high-priority programmes were now being affected.

“Protection cannot be reduced indefinitely without systems collapsing,” said Dominique Hyde, UNHCR’s external relations chief.

“Below a certain threshold, services do not simply reach fewer people; they can stop functioning altogether, leaving those most at risk without the protection they need.”

The agency highlighted the consequences in several countries. In Chad, 319,000 refugees face registration delays, leaving them without documentation needed to access essential services, while about 233,000 children could lose access to child protection programmes.

In Ethiopia, child protection coverage in some areas has fallen by as much as 85%.

In Sudan, tens of thousands of survivors of sexual violence and children facing serious risks could lose access to essential protection services, UNHCR warned.

“When registration stops or child protection services disappear, the very risks that people fled -- violence, exploitation and abuse -- reappear in displacement,” Hyde said.

Quarter of workforce cut

UNHCR said 117.8 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced from their homes at the end of 2025, down from a record 123.2 million in 2024.

Of that total, 35.6 million were refugees under UNHCR’s mandate, with two-thirds originating from Venezuela, Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan.

UNHCR cut nearly 5,000 jobs in 2025, representing more than a quarter of its workforce. The United States, traditionally the agency’s largest donor, has significantly reduced foreign aid, while other major donors have also tightened spending.

The Geneva-based agency said the funding crisis was also undermining efforts to help displaced people become less dependent on humanitarian assistance.

In Iraq, as many as 350,000 refugees and asylum seekers could lose access to economic inclusion opportunities, according to UNHCR.

Assistance is also declining for people returning to their countries of origin, whether voluntarily or under pressure.

In Syria, 162,500 vulnerable IDPs and returning refugees will not receive initial financial support unless additional funding is secured quickly, limiting their ability to rebuild their lives, the agency said.