Nearly 8.3 million refugees and other forcibly displaced people face losing vital assistance from UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, as protection services crumble under “severe” funding cuts.
The agency issued the warning on Tuesday in a report detailing the human cost of the budget cuts.
“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,” it said.
Funding falls as needs stay high
UNHCR said its available funding dropped from $5.2 billion in 2024 to $3.9 billion in 2025, while the number of people it is mandated to protect remains near historic highs.
The agency said it needed $8.5 billion this year but had received only 32 percent of that amount, or $2.7 billion, by the end of July.
“Continued severe funding cuts are pushing refugee support and protection structures towards breaking point in the world’s main displacement situations,” it added.
UNHCR said it had introduced reforms and prioritisation measures to protect its most critical work. But the scale and persistence of the shortfall means even its highest-priority operations are now 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.”
Impact across countries
- Chad: 319,000 refugees face registration delays, leaving them without the documentation to access services. Around 233,000 children could lose child protection services.
- Ethiopia: Child protection coverage in some areas has fallen by up to 85 percent.
- Sudan: Tens of thousands of survivors of sexual violence and children at serious risk could lose access to critical protection services.
- Iraq: Up to 350,000 refugees and asylum seekers risk losing access to economic inclusion opportunities.
- Syria: 162,500 vulnerable IDPs and returned refugees will not receive initial financial assistance unless funding arrives quickly.
Hyde warned that when registration stops or child protection services disappear, “the very risks that people fled — violence, exploitation and abuse — reappear in displacement.”
A quarter of the workforce cut
About 117.8 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced at the end of 2025, according to UNHCR. That is down from the record 123.2 million in 2024.
Of the total, 35.6 million were refugees under UNHCR’s mandate. Two-thirds came from Venezuela, Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan.
UNHCR shed nearly 5,000 jobs in 2025, more than a quarter of its workforce. The United States, traditionally the world’s top donor, has heavily cut foreign aid, while other major donors have also tightened their budgets.
The Geneva-based agency said the cuts are undermining efforts to help people move away from aid dependence. It added that support is also drying up for those returning to their home countries, whether voluntarily or under duress.
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