Published on: 2026-09-25
Source: United Nations – United Nations –
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September 25, 2026 Refugees and Migrants
The number of people forced to leave their homes has exceeded 117 million, and the scale of displacement is growing faster than solutions to overcome the crisis can be found. This was stated on Friday by Barham Salih, who spoke for the first time at a Security Council briefing as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The meeting took place during the high-level week of the 81st session of the General Assembly.
The former president of Iraq, who was once a refugee himself, emphasized: forced displacement is not only a humanitarian issue.
“In essence, this is a problem of international peace and security. That is precisely why this discussion must be held here,” he stated.
Humanitarian organizations, the UN representative continued, deal daily with the consequences of wars.
“But humanitarian workers are not capable of establishing peace,” Saleh emphasized. According to him, it is precisely a respected ceasefire that can allow families to stay at home, and a peace agreement that can give refugees the opportunity to return.
From Sudan to Ukraine
The largest displacement crisis remains Sudan: nearly 12 million people have fled their homes, and about 4.5 million Sudanese have sought refuge in neighboring countries.
“As long as this war continues, people will keep fleeing,” said the High Commissioner. Saleh called on Security Council members to use their influence collectively and individually to end the conflict.
Speaking about Ukraine, the High Commissioner noted that the war continues to claim a huge number of lives: civilians are dying and getting injured, homes and vital infrastructure are being destroyed, and families are forced to leave their native places.
Millions of people remain displaced within the country, and millions more are abroad. Saleh, who visited Ukraine earlier this year, said he saw not only the consequences of the war but also the remarkable determination of Ukrainians to rebuild their lives. “Ukraine needs peace. And Ukrainians need effective measures. But reconstruction cannot wait for the war to end,” he emphasized.
The new escalation deepens the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. As a result of recent fighting, more than 130,000 people have become internally displaced, and over 3,700 have fled to Djibouti and other countries. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has declared a Level 1 emergency in Yemen, Djibouti, and Somalia.
Saleh noted that in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the situation of the displaced is worsened by Ebola. In Mali, Burkina Faso, and neighboring countries, more than 4 million people are displaced. In Western Sahara, forced migrants have been living in camps for more than half a century.
The High Commissioner called not to forget the Rohingya people. More than 1.2 million stateless Rohingya refugees remain in Bangladesh, while conflict continues in Myanmar and serious protection risks persist.
“The solution to overcoming the Rohingya crisis lies in Myanmar,” Saleh emphasized. He acknowledged that the conditions for voluntary return do not exist at present, but said this is no reason to accept the current situation. The High Commissioner called on the Security Council to actively promote the cessation of the conflict and the creation of conditions in Myanmar under which the Rohingya can return voluntarily, safely, and with dignity.
A refuge as a bridge to the world
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Status Convention. It emerged after a devastating war and established a simple principle: people fleeing persecution are protected and not returned to places where they face danger. States have the right to manage their borders, and the Convention does not diminish their sovereignty, Saleh emphasized.
“Refuge is a bridge to peace,” he said: it protects people while there is no peace, and preserves the possibility for them to return home when conditions permit.
Today, asylum systems are under pressure, the High Commissioner noted, but this is no reason to retreat from the fundamental principles of refugee protection.
Solving the problem
Earlier this year, Saleh proposed the “50 by 35” concept – to halve the number of refugees who have been in exile for years and depend on humanitarian aid by 2035.
According to him, crossing the border in the opposite direction once is not enough. Since December 2024, about 3.8 million Syrians have returned to their native places, and over 6 million people have returned to Afghanistan in recent years, many of whom live in harsh conditions, with girls and women facing severe restrictions. People need livelihoods, functioning state systems, and investments in development.
Success, according to the High Commissioner, cannot be measured by humanitarian organizations having learned to keep people alive for another year in conditions of war. A refugee camp should not still be standing half a century later, and children should not inherit the exile from their parents.
“Ultimately, the most reliable solution to the problem of forced displacement is peace,” he concluded.
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