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UN Official Urges Funding to Support 123 Million Displaced People Worldwide

Khaled Khalifa, Senior Advisor to the High Commissioner and UNHCR Representative to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Khaled Khalifa, Senior Advisor to the High Commissioner and UNHCR Representative to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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UN Official Urges Funding to Support 123 Million Displaced People Worldwide

Khaled Khalifa, Senior Advisor to the High Commissioner and UNHCR Representative to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Khaled Khalifa, Senior Advisor to the High Commissioner and UNHCR Representative to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Asharq Al-Awsat)

A senior United Nations official has issued an urgent appeal for funding to address the worsening humanitarian crisis faced by displaced people worldwide. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is seeking $10.248 billion from donors to support refugees and forcibly displaced individuals in 2025.

Khaled Khalifa, Senior Advisor to the High Commissioner and UNHCR Representative to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, told Asharq Al-Awsat: “With forced displacement reaching unprecedented levels—123 million people worldwide—securing these funds is crucial to responding to both emerging conflicts and prolonged crises.”

So far, donor governments have pledged $1.143 billion, with an additional $355 million from private sector partners. This brings the total to $1.5 billion—just 15% of the required funding for 2025.

UNHCR is coordinating with governments, host countries, international organizations, and local partners to meet the immense needs of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Khalifa emphasized the agency’s efforts to secure resources for essential services, including shelter, food, water, healthcare, and education. “We rely on inter-agency response plans to support host governments in providing protection and assistance to both refugees and their host communities,” he added.

By mid-2024, the number of forcibly displaced people worldwide had surpassed 122.6 million, marking a 5% increase (5.3 million people) compared to the end of 2023. Among them are 43.7 million refugees and 72.1 million internally displaced persons.

Khalifa pointed to Sudan as one of the most pressing crises, where ongoing conflict has displaced over 8.9 million people internally and forced 3.4 million to flee to neighboring countries. “For over 12 years, the number of forcibly displaced people has continued to rise. By June 2024, one in every 67 people worldwide was forcibly displaced—nearly double the rate from a decade ago, when it was one in 114.”

The UN official attributed the growing number of displaced individuals to escalating wars and conflicts, such as those in Ukraine and Sudan, with no clear political solutions in sight. Additionally, long-standing displacement crises—such as those involving Rohingya refugees, Afghan refugees, and the Syrian conflict—continue to force millions from their homes.

He highlighted the ongoing war between Sudan’s armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), describing it as a “bloody conflict” that has driven hundreds of thousands from their homes. UNHCR is calling on all parties to reach a political resolution to prevent further humanitarian suffering.

Khalifa stressed that continued fighting is worsening the humanitarian crisis, pushing more people into desperate conditions. He reiterated UNHCR’s call for safe passage for civilians fleeing conflict zones, ensuring they can seek refuge either within their own countries or abroad. “It is essential to guarantee protection from all forms of violence,” he said.

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World

Crunch Nuclear Proliferation Meeting at UN Amid Raging Global Wars

The general view of the remains of the over-the-horizon radar system "Duga" not far from city of Chernobyl, Ukraine, 22 November 2018. (EPA)
The general view of the remains of the over-the-horizon radar system "Duga" not far from city of Chernobyl, Ukraine, 22 November 2018. (EPA)
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Crunch Nuclear Proliferation Meeting at UN Amid Raging Global Wars

The general view of the remains of the over-the-horizon radar system "Duga" not far from city of Chernobyl, Ukraine, 22 November 2018. (EPA)
The general view of the remains of the over-the-horizon radar system "Duga" not far from city of Chernobyl, Ukraine, 22 November 2018. (EPA)

Signatories of the landmark nuclear non-proliferation treaty will meet at the UN from Monday as hopes fade they can reach agreement and tensions soar between the atomic powers.

In 2022, during the last review of the treaty that is considered the cornerstone of non-proliferation, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned humanity was "one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation."

The situation has only worsened since then.

"I think there is a shared, if you will, sense of crisis by all states parties," said Izumi Nakamitsu, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.

"We don't have any bilateral arms control agreements between the two largest nuclear weapon states," she said referring to the February expiration of the New Start treaty between Moscow and Washington.

"We are also beginning to see quantitative increase of nuclear capabilities in all nuclear weapon states."

Nakamitsu said that mounting geopolitical tensions had halted the post-Cold War trend of disarmament.

The nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), signed by almost all the countries on the planet -- with notable exceptions like Israel, India, and Pakistan -- aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, to promote complete disarmament, and to encourage cooperation on civilian nuclear projects.

The nine nuclear-armed states -- Russia, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea -- possessed 12,241 nuclear warheads in January 2025, according to the latest report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The United States and Russia hold nearly 90 percent of nuclear weapons globally and have carried out major programs to modernize them in recent years, according to SIPRI.

China has also rapidly increased its nuclear stockpile, SIPRI said, with the G7 raising the alarm Friday over Moscow and Beijing boosting their nuclear capabilities.

US President Donald Trump has indicated his intention to conduct new nuclear tests because "other countries are doing it too."

In March, France's President Emmanuel Macron announced a dramatic shift in nuclear deterrence, notably an increase in the atomic arsenal, currently numbering 290 warheads.

- NPT could 'unravel' -

"It is obvious that trust is eroding, both inside and outside the NPT," Seth Sheldon of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, told AFP.

He questioned the likely outcome of the four-week summit.

Decisions on the NPT have to be agreed by consensus, with the previous two conferences failing to adopt final political declarations.

In 2015, the deadlock was largely due to opposition by Israel's arch-ally Washington to the creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East.

In 2022, the impasse was due mainly to Russian opposition to references to Ukraine's nuclear power plant at Zaporizhzhia, occupied by Moscow.

This year's summit could fall on any number of stumbling blocks.

The ongoing war in Ukraine, Iran's nuclear program and the war there, non-nuclear states' fears over proliferation and North Korea's developing arsenal could all be deal-breakers.

If there is a third consecutive failure, the treaty "might not implode overnight" said Christopher King, the conference's secretary-general.

But there is a risk "it will, over time, unravel."

Artificial intelligence could be a prominent issue as some countries call for all sides to keep human control over nuclear weapons.

World

Australia Refuses Repatriation Help for Citizens in Syria Camp

A brick wall surrounds a tent camp housing people with alleged ties to ISIS militants at Roj Camp in eastern Syria, Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP)
A brick wall surrounds a tent camp housing people with alleged ties to ISIS militants at Roj Camp in eastern Syria, Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP)
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Australia Refuses Repatriation Help for Citizens in Syria Camp

A brick wall surrounds a tent camp housing people with alleged ties to ISIS militants at Roj Camp in eastern Syria, Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP)
A brick wall surrounds a tent camp housing people with alleged ties to ISIS militants at Roj Camp in eastern Syria, Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP)

Australia refused to help repatriate citizens related to suspected ISIS extremists on Saturday, following a report that some Australian families are trying to return home from a camp in Syria.

National broadcaster ABC said four Australian women and nine of their children and grandchildren had left the Roj camp in northeastern Syria on Friday, citing the camp director.

Syrian forces were taking them to Damascus to help them fly back to Australia, it said.

"The Australian Government is not and will not repatriate people from Syria," a government spokesperson said in a statement to AFP.

"Our security agencies have been monitoring -- and continue to monitor -- the situation in Syria to ensure they are prepared for any Australians seeking to return to Australia," the spokesperson added.

"People in this cohort need to know that if they have committed a crime and if they return to Australia they will be met with the full force of the law."

The government's "overriding priority" was the safety of Australians and the protection of Australia's national interests, the spokesperson said.

The group is among 34 Australians at the camp who failed in an attempt to return home in February, reportedly due to a coordination problem with the Syrian government.

At the time, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the government would not provide them with any support, declaring: "You make your bed, you lie in it."

The repatriation of the families of ISIS members is controversial in Australia, with some politicians warning they pose a threat to national security.

The humanitarian organization Save the Children Australia filed a lawsuit in 2023 on behalf of 11 women and 20 children at the Roj camp, seeking their repatriation.

But the Federal Court ruled against Save the Children, saying the Australian government did not control their detention in Syria.

World

Romania Says Drone Fragments Damage Property During Overnight Russian Attack on Ukraine

Romanian army servicemen explain the capabilities of "Vector" surveillance drone during exercise EASTERN PHOENIX 26, a training activity designed to test counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) procedures, at Capu Midia firing range, April 24, 2026. (AFP)
Romanian army servicemen explain the capabilities of "Vector" surveillance drone during exercise EASTERN PHOENIX 26, a training activity designed to test counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) procedures, at Capu Midia firing range, April 24, 2026. (AFP)
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Romania Says Drone Fragments Damage Property During Overnight Russian Attack on Ukraine

Romanian army servicemen explain the capabilities of "Vector" surveillance drone during exercise EASTERN PHOENIX 26, a training activity designed to test counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) procedures, at Capu Midia firing range, April 24, 2026. (AFP)
Romanian army servicemen explain the capabilities of "Vector" surveillance drone during exercise EASTERN PHOENIX 26, a training activity designed to test counter-unmanned aircraft systems (C-UAS) procedures, at Capu Midia firing range, April 24, 2026. (AFP)

Romania recovered drone fragments in the southeastern city of Galati after an overnight Russian attack on neighboring Ukraine, with an electricity pole and a household annex damaged, its defense ministry said in a statement.

There were no casualties, the ministry said.

Romania's emergency response agency later said it was evacuating the area where it had recovered drone fragments as the fragments could contain an explosive charge. The fragments will be disposed of in a secure location.

Romania, a member of both NATO and the European ‌Union, shares a 650-km (400-mile) ‌land border with Ukraine and has ‌seen Russian ⁠drones repeatedly breach ⁠its airspace as Moscow attacks Ukraine ports on the other side of the Danube river.

While drone fragments have routinely fallen on Romania, Saturday marked the first time property had been damaged.

"The defense ministry firmly condemns the irresponsible actions of the Russian Federation and emphasizes that these represent a new challenge to regional ⁠security and stability in the Black Sea area," ‌the ministry's statement said.

"Such incidents ‌demonstrate the Russian Federation's lack of respect for the norms of international ‌law and endanger not only the safety of Romanian citizens, ‌but also the collective security of NATO."

Two Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets - part of a British air-policing mission in Romania - were scrambled to monitor the attack from the air, which is standard procedure. Residents of neighboring ‌Tulcea county were also warned to take cover.

Tensions have mounted along Europe's eastern flank ⁠in recent months ⁠after suspected Russian drones breached the airspace of several NATO states.

Romanian law allows it to shoot down drones during peacetime if lives or property are at risk, but it has not yet done so.

Defense Minister Radu Miruta on Friday said a US-made, AI-powered counter-drone system would be integrated into national air defense systems in a matter of days after final tests.

The Merops system, developed by Project Eagle - a US-based company backed by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt - would be able to counter drone threats along the Danube river, Miruta said.

Poland is already using the system on NATO's eastern flank.