The head of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, warned Monday that displacement crises in Lebanon and Sudan could worsen, but said tighter border measures, outsourcing and externalization are not the answer, calling them ineffective and often in violation of international legal obligations. Grandi said an unprecedented 123 million people are now displaced around the world amid other persisting conflicts.
Addressing the opening session of the UNHCR annual meeting in Geneva, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees reflected on a year of loss and sorrow fueled by “the terrible lie that the path to peace is found through war.” The current crisis in the Middle East and ongoing conflicts in Sudan, Ukraine, Myanmar and beyond mean the future “seems more uncertain than ever,” he said.
“Against the backdrop of crisis in the Middle East, it would be easy – and perhaps it is tempting – to become cynical about multilateralism. To turn inwards. But cynicism and isolation are not luxuries that refugees can afford,” Grandi said.
“There are 123 million refugees and displaced people today. Their plight demands solutions. And the only way to achieve solutions is by working together.”
According to an October UNHCR report, 122.6 million people worldwide remained forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order at the end of June 2024. Compared with the end of 2023, this represents an increase of 5 percent, or 5.3 million people. 
The global refugee population reached 43.7 million by mid-2024, an increase of 1 percent from the end of 2023. This includes 32 million refugees and 5.8 million others in need of international protection under the mandate of UNHCR, as well as 6 million Palestine refugees under the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
As of mid-2024, an estimated 72.1 million people remained internally displaced due to conflict or violence, an increase of 6 percent from the end of the previous year, with six countries - Sudan, Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ukraine, Haiti, and Mozambique - accounting for 90 percent of those forced to flee within their respective countries in 2024.
Regarding the war in Lebanon, Grandi said the overwhelming message from the people he recently met in Lebanon and Syria - many of whom have been displaced and all of whom have been affected by the war - was that they want peace.
“A ceasefire for Lebanon but also – as is desperately needed in Gaza – a ceasefire that is sustained by a meaningful peace process, difficult as it may be. This is the only way to break the cycle of violence, of hatred, and of misery. [..] A ceasefire which would stem the tide to a major regional war with global implications,” he said.
“Uncertainty clouds the lives of ordinary civilians in Lebanon today. Surely, if airstrikes continue, many more will be displaced and some will also decide to move on to other countries. Many have already decided to cross the Syrian border and Syria has opened the doors to all those fleeing Lebanon,” Grandi added.
Humanitarian funding has not kept pace with the growing number of crises worldwide, with UNHCR declaring an average of 40 emergencies each year for the past three years. UNHCR's overall budget is still only 45 percent funded out of a total requirement of US$10.8 billion for 2024, with uncertainty hanging over the next year and beyond.
“We cannot continue to operate like that. And neither can you. This approach is not sustainable,” Grandi told governments.
The High Commissioner for Refugees cited crises in Ukraine, where civilians must be helped to prepare for a winter that is likely to be even more difficult than the previous two, "with so much of the energy infrastructure destroyed by Russian strikes." And in Myanmar, where the number of displaced people has risen by more than two million in the last year "as a result of multiple, ruthless conflicts" throughout the country.
Grandi also pointed to the war in Sudan - where more than 11 million people have been displaced in the past 18 months, but where the Refugee Response Plan (RRP) is only 27 percent funded and prospects for peace remain bleak.
“A crisis that commands little media attention and enjoys inadequate financial support, but where, today, we see the dramatic consequences of the collective inaction that we have been warning about since the start of the war, 18 months ago. And it can still get worse,” he said.
“No peace; little resources – in this lethal equation, something has got to give,” Grandi warned.
“Otherwise, nobody should be surprised if displacement keeps growing, in numbers but also in geographic spread. Because the reality is that without a sense of safety and stability, refugees will move on, something so many states are so worried about.”
Grandi also had some advice for western governments.
“For a start, do not focus only on your borders. By the time refugees and migrants reach them, governments are under political pressure to make reactive decisions,” he said.
“Reflexively, they focus on controls. On stopping people from moving. On schemes to outsource, externalize or even suspend asylum that breach their international legal obligations. And frankly, that are ineffective.”
Instead, he asked them to “look upstream. Look at root causes in the countries of origin.”
Despite the alarming global backdrop, Grandi looked back on a year with "at least some moments of hope". He mentioned, among other examples, the winners of the 2024 UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award, who were honored Monday night.
“An inspiration to all of us, and a powerful reminder that humanity is not lost, even amidst the pain,” he said
Five women - a nun, an activist, a social entrepreneur, a volunteer aid worker and an advocate for ending statelessness - were honored at the UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award ceremony in Geneva today.
The 2024 Global Laureate, Sister Rosita Milesi, is a Brazilian nun, lawyer, social worker and social activist who has worked for nearly 40 years to defend the rights and dignity of people on the move.
Four others were named regional winners. They are:
Maimouna Ba for the Africa region, a grassroots activist from Burkina Faso who has helped more than 100 displaced children return to the classroom and put more than 400 displaced women on a path to financial independence.
Jin Davod for the Europe region, a young social entrepreneur who drew on her own experience as a Syrian refugee to build an online platform that has connected thousands of trauma survivors with licensed therapists who provide free mental health support.
Nada Fadol for the Middle East and North Africa region, a Sudanese refugee who has mobilized critical aid for hundreds of refugee families fleeing to Egypt in search of safety.
And, finally, Deepti Gurung, for the Asia-Pacific region, who campaigned to reform Nepal's citizenship laws after learning that her two daughters had become stateless - opening a path to citizenship for them and thousands more in similar situations.
Further information
Full text: High Commissioner’s opening statement to the seventy-fifth plenary session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme, Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, speech , delivered on October 14, 2024
https://www.unhcr.org/news/speeches-and-statements/high-commissioner-s-opening-statement-seventy-fifth-plenary-session
Website: UNHCR - Nansen Refugee Award
https://www.unhcr.org/nansen-refugee-award
Full text: UNHCR - 2024 Mid-Year Trends report - October 2024, UNHCR, report, published on October 9, 2024
https://data.unhcr.org/en/documents/details/111704