UN Refugee Chief Calls for Protection, Warns Against Prolonged Displacement

(MENAFN) UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih emphasized on Monday that safeguarding people compelled to leave their homes is vital, while warning that displacement must not become a lasting condition. He said extended conflicts and declining humanitarian funding are worsening the worldwide refugee crisis.

Speaking at the UNHCR Executive Committee meeting in Geneva, Salih reported that more than 117 million people around the world have been forcibly displaced by conflict, violence, persecution and other dangers.

"We must protect people when they are forced to flee. But we cannot accept indefinite displacement as their future," he said.

Salih cautioned that people are being displaced by conflicts more rapidly than those crises can be settled, leaving millions facing years of uncertainty and hardship.

He explained that emergency aid alone cannot deliver sustainable outcomes, urging stronger efforts to prevent conflicts, advance diplomatic solutions and create opportunities for refugees to rebuild their lives.

"Success must also mean people recovering agency: being able to work, to learn, to support their families, and to make the choices about their future," he said. "We must measure success not only by the lives we save, but by the lives people are able to rebuild, and the lasting solutions they can find."

Addressing education, Salih noted that 5.8 million refugee children are still unable to attend school, underscoring the continuing obstacles that prevent displaced young people from accessing education.

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