‘Ignoring the global humanitarian crisis is a huge mistake,’ UN refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi tells Arab News

1: Filippo Grandi on the international system
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2: Filippo Grandi on US aid
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Updated 29 April 2025
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‘Ignoring the global humanitarian crisis is a huge mistake,’ UN refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi tells Arab News

  • Top aid official describes ‘a perfect storm of wars, crises, violations of international law, and a system that is more fragmented’
  • UNHCR chief Grandi says the Gulf states could fill the void left in the multilateral system by inward-turning US and Europe

NEW YORK CITY: In his four decades in the humanitarian field, Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees, says he has never seen the situation so dire for displaced people owing to the current environment of aid cuts and political neglect.

Speaking to Arab News in New York City, Grandi painted a grim picture of the state of the global displacement response in the middle of a rash of conflicts and the failure of the very systems designed to protect the world’s most vulnerable.

“You have a perfect storm between more wars, more crises, violations of international law, an international system that is more and more fragmented,” Grandi said. “Institutions are not really functioning anymore. And at the same time, you have cuts in the aid system.

“Something has got to give. Either we diminish the number of crises or we must be consistent in putting in adequate resources. Otherwise this crisis will become even bigger.”

His comments follow the US government’s decision to scrap USAID — once the world’s largest humanitarian donor — which was soon followed by similar moves by other major donors including the UK and Germany.

This at a time when simultaneous conflicts in Gaza, Sudan, Ukraine, and elsewhere have stretched existing aid provisions to the very limit, depriving millions of displaced people of essential assistance, and in some cases fueling onward migration.




A woman receives a package of non-food items after arriving at the Dougui refugee settlement. (UNHCR)

Grandi said world leaders generally understand the scale of the crisis, but many, especially in the Global North, remain focused on domestic issues.

“The response I get is always: ‘We understand, but we need to deal with our own problems first,’” he said. “But the global humanitarian pot that is boiling is going to become a domestic issue unless leaders pay attention to that in the most urgent manner.”

As a result of these aid budget cuts, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, could be forced to reduce up to a third of its operations, even as crises multiply.

Addressing the UN Security Council on Monday, Grandi said funding cuts “may conclude with the retrenchment of my organization to up to one-third of its capacity.”

The US has traditionally been UNHCR’s top donor, making up more than 40 percent of total contributions received, amounting to approximately $2 billion per year, he said.

But for 2025, UNHCR has so far received about $350 million from Washington and is discussing with the administration the remainder of the funds.

“I cannot emphasize more how dramatic the situation is in this very moment,” Grandi told the Security Council. “If this trend continues, we will not be able to do more with less. But as I have said many times, we will do less with less. We are already doing less with less.”

UNHCR employs more than 18,000 staff in 136 countries, with approximately 90 percent of those employees working in the field, according to its website.




Filippo Grandi talks with Syrian President Ahmad Al-Sharaa in Damascus. (SANA/AFP/File)

Commenting on the impact of the cuts, Grandi told Arab News: “Cutting aid is going to cause more suffering for people. Less food, fewer medicines, less shelter and water, more people will die and suffer. And, may I say, more people will also move, and move on.”

Grandi recently visited Chad, where he met Sudanese women who had fled atrocities in Darfur’s Al-Fasher and the Zamzam camp, where they had been subjected to “violence, intimidation, and rape.”

“We tend to see Sudan’s war as a conflict between two major forces, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. But on the ground, it’s far more fragmented. The lower down you go in the chain of command, the more lawless and brutal it becomes.”

Despite the horrors visited upon Sudan since the conflict began in April 2023, humanitarian agencies are now being forced to scale back operations owing to the loss of funding from major state donors.

“We’re cutting 20 to 30 percent of our programs there. So are others,” Grandi said. “Do you think people will just wait for aid that never arrives? They move on.”

For instance, there are now an estimated 250,000 Sudanese in Libya — a popular jumping-off point for migrants and refugees from across Africa and the Middle East seeking safety and opportunity in Europe.

In Libya, many risk extortion, exploitation, or murder by traffickers, militias, and corrupt officials. Those who do manage to secure a place on a small boat across the Mediterranean risk drowning at sea.

“We need to be very clear, and I’m not trying to scare anybody,” Grandi said. “The decrease of aid will have an impact on population movements. And I think this is extremely dangerous.”

Grandi believes aid cuts are partly due to shifting global priorities. “The world is distracted — by defense, trade, and politics,” he said. “I’m not saying these issues don’t matter. But ignoring the humanitarian crisis is a huge mistake.”

While Europe remains a major donor, its contributions are a fraction of the amount the US has donated.




Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Khan Younis. (Reuters)

Moreover, its neglect of the issue could have significant domestic security repercussions.

“Aid is essential for Europe,” he said. “Think of Africa, the Sahel, Sudan, Yemen, Gaza, Syria, Ukraine. Europe is surrounded by a belt of crisis. If those crises are left unattended, these will affect European security too.”

Aid from the Gulf states, meanwhile, has been “consistently” generous, but more targeted, Grandi said.

“Gulf donors tend to fund specific projects or crises for a specific period of time,” he said. However, “their support is less institutional and more ad hoc,” making it difficult for aid agencies to plan ahead.

Grandi urged Gulf countries to do more by supporting multilateral efforts, especially now that the US and European states have created a vacuum.

“There’s a strong humanitarian spirit in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, the Emirates,” he said. “I appeal to their governments, foundations, and charities to overcome their hesitations and support agencies like ours. Together, we can be strong.




A family takes shelter in a primary school in Sudan’s White Nile state after conflict drove them from their home. (UNHCR)

“I described the belt of crisis surrounding Europe, but if you look at the geography on the other side, those belts of crises are also very much adjacent to the Gulf. And this is why, politically, Gulf countries are very active in trying to solve some of those crises.”

He noted positive engagement from Gulf countries in Syria, where more than a million people have returned after more than a decade of displacement. “That’s a strong signal,” Grandi said. But he cautioned that Syria remains fragile and that returnees would need ongoing support.

“Supporting them means humanitarian aid, rebuilding communities, and early recovery — fixing water and electricity systems, creating jobs,” he said.

“Early recovery takes a little bit more political risk. I think it’s important to take that risk. If we don’t take that risk now, the project of rebuilding Syria will be nipped in the bud.”

With global displacement now at record highs, Grandi underlined the importance of sustainable, long-term solutions.

“There are so many conflicts emerging, and none of the old conflicts get resolved,” he said. “Every conflict generates refugees. Assistance quickly dries up … so we need a more sustainable way.”

States and institutions should move beyond short-term aid and instead focus on integrating refugees into host countries’ education, health, and employment systems, he said.

This requires support by international donors, particularly development actors like the World Bank and Gulf funding institutions, to strengthen the systems of often resource-poor host countries.




People load a vehicle at Al-Hol refugee camp in Syria. (AFP/File)

The goal is to shift from emergency responses to development-oriented approaches that promote self-reliance, social cohesion, and shared benefits for refugees and their host communities.

“Sustainable solutions mean inclusion,” he said. “That’s better for refugees, better for host communities, and ultimately better for global stability.”

But, with mounting hostility toward migrants in many societies, such a reimagining of the aid system may be difficult to realize in practice.

Besides the loss of desperately needed funding, Grandi also said there had been a significant erosion of international humanitarian law, which had offered protections, or at least guardrails, since the end of the Second World War.

“The laws of war were created decades ago as a result of witnessing the horrible destruction and loss of human lives that wars cause,” Grandi said.

“Have the laws of war always been observed? Clearly not. But surely in the past, there was at least a sense of shame. That seems to have gone.”




Filippo Grandi examines buildings destroyed by shelling during a visit to the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. (AFP/File)

From Gaza and Ukraine to Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Grandi said today’s conflicts are marked by “impunity” and a “lack of accountability,” with civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and schools, deliberately targeted.

“If war becomes an instrument of total destruction for civilians, it’s not just dangerous for those caught in conflict. It threatens humanity as a whole,” he said.

Many of these violations are broadcast in real time, further fueling the perception that the international system is broken. Meanwhile, the very institutions designed to prevent such offences appear redundant.

For instance, the UN Security Council has held more than 40 meetings on Gaza alone, without taking any meaningful action, hampered by vetoes and political gridlock.

While Grandi stopped short of declaring the international system dead, he acknowledged that it is deeply dysfunctional.




A Palestinian boy waits to  receive a food portion in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. (AP)

“It has been weakened considerably,” he said. “But if we say it’s dead, we risk going into a world war. That’s the consequence. I’m not exaggerating.”

He called for urgent reform to global institutions, including the UN Security Council, and for a renewed commitment to multilateralism.

“The system is very sick,” Grandi said. “The current freeze in funding or defunding of humanitarian organizations makes it even more weak. But we still have the tools, if we choose to work together, to rebuild and improve it.”

 


The Republican attempt to discourage Trump lawsuits has hit a big obstacle

Updated 5 sec ago
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The Republican attempt to discourage Trump lawsuits has hit a big obstacle

  • As Trump faces lawsuits nationwide, GOP lawmakers had sought to bar federal courts from issuing temporary restraining orders

WASHINGTON: Republicans have hit a roadblock in an effort that could deter nonprofits, individuals and other potential litigants from filing lawsuits to block President Donald Trump over his executive actions.
As Trump faces lawsuits nationwide, GOP lawmakers had sought to bar federal courts from issuing temporary restraining orders or preliminary injunctions against the federal government unless the plaintiffs post what in many cases would be a massive financial bond at the beginning of the case.
The proposal was included in the Senate version of Trump’s massive tax and immigration bill, but ran into trouble with the Senate parliamentarian, who said it violates the chamber’s rules. It is now unlikely to be in the final package.
Federal judges can already require plaintiffs to post security bonds, but such funds are commonly waived in public interest cases. The GOP proposal would make the payment of the financial bond a requirement before a judge could make a ruling, which critics said would have a chilling effect on potential litigants who wouldn’t have the resources to comply.
Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer hailed the parliamentarian’s ruling in a press statement and called the GOP effort “nothing short of an assault on the system of checks and balances that has anchored the nation since it’s founding.”
“But Senate Democrats stopped them cold,” Schumer said.
Lawmakers are running scores of provisions by the Senate parliamentarian’s office to ensure they fit with the chamber’s rules for inclusion in a reconciliation bill. The recommendations from Elizabeth MacDonough will have a major impact on the final version of the legislation.
On Friday, she determined that a proposal to shift some food stamps costs from the federal government to states would violate the chamber’s rules. But some of the most difficult questions are still to come as Republicans hope to get a bill passed and on Trump’s desk to be signed into law before July 4th.
Republicans could still seek to include the judiciary provision in the bill, but it would likely be challenged and subject to a separate vote in which the provision would need 60 votes to remain. The parliamentarian’s advice, while not binding, is generally followed by the Senate.
Republicans and the White House have been highly critical of some of the court rulings blocking various Trump orders on immigration, education and voting. The courts have agreed to block the president in a number of cases, and the administration is seeking appeals as well.
In April, the House voted to limit the scope of injunctive relief ordered by a district judge to those parties before the court, rather than applying the relief nationally. But that bill is unlikely to advance in the Senate since it would need 60 votes to advance. That’s left Republicans looking for other avenues to blunt the court orders.
“We are experiencing a constitutional crisis, a judicial coup d’etat,” Rep. Bob Onder, R-Missouri, said during the House debate.


Turkiye sandwiches and stealth: Preparing for B-2 bomber missions

Updated 1 min 40 sec ago
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Turkiye sandwiches and stealth: Preparing for B-2 bomber missions

  • Pilots are trained to be cognizant of foods and how they slow or speed digestion — critical in an aircraft with a single chemical toilet
  • The Air Force plans to replace the B-2 and B-1 fleets with at least 100 B-21 Raiders over the coming decades

WASHINGTON: Before strapping into the cockpit of the US Air Force’s B-2 Spirit stealth bomber for missions that can stretch beyond 40 hours, pilots undergo weeks of preparation that focuses not only on flight plans, but what to eat.
The B-2, a $2 billion flying wing built by Northrop Grumman , played a key role in delivering strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites on Saturday. It demands extraordinary endurance from its two-person crew. That starts with understanding how nutrition affects alertness and digestion during intercontinental flights that can span nearly two full days.
“We go through sleep studies, we actually go through nutritional education to be able to teach each one of us: one, what wakes us up and then what helps us go to sleep,” said retired Lt. Gen. Steve Basham, who flew the B-2 for nine years and retired in 2024 as deputy commander of US European Command.
Pilots are trained to be cognizant of foods and how they slow or speed digestion — critical in an aircraft with a single chemical toilet. Basham’s go-to meal: turkey sandwiches on wheat bread, no cheese. “As bland as you possibly can,” he said.
With a 172-foot (52.4 m) wingspan and stealth profile, the B-2 can fly 6,000 nautical miles without refueling, but most missions require multiple mid-air refuelings. That process becomes increasingly difficult as fatigue sets in.
Refueling is done blind — pilots can’t see the boom extending from a tanker full of gas attaching to the B-2 16 feet behind their heads. Instead, they rely on visual cues from the tanker’s lights and memorized reference points. At night, especially on moonless flights, the task becomes what Basham called “inherently dangerous.”
“Adrenaline kept you going before you went into country,” he said. “The adrenaline goes away. You try to get a little bit of rest and you still got that one last refueling.”
The B-2’s cockpit includes a small area behind the seats, where pilots can lie down on a cot. Sunflower seeds help some stay alert between meals.
Despite its cutting-edge design — features that make it stealthy reduce infrared, radar and acoustic signatures — the B-2’s success hinges on human performance. The aircraft’s two-person crew replaces the larger teams required for older bombers like the B-1B and B-52, placing more responsibility on each member of the flight crew.
The B-2’s fly-by-wire system, which relies entirely on computer inputs, has evolved since its 1989 debut. Early software lagged behind pilot commands, complicating refueling, Basham said. Updates have improved responsiveness, but the challenge of flying in tight formation at high altitude remains.
During Operation Allied Force in 1999, B-2s flew 31-hour round trips from Missouri to Kosovo, striking 33 percent of targets in the first eight weeks, according to the Air Force. In Iraq, the aircraft dropped more than 1.5 million pounds of munitions across 49 sorties.
The Air Force plans to replace the B-2 and B-1 fleets with at least 100 B-21 Raiders over the coming decades. The B-2 costs about $65,000 per hour to operate, compared to $60,000 for the B-1, Pentagon data shows.
“Our pilots make it look easy, but it’s far from easy,” Basham said. The B-2’s complicated missions can’t be done “without a massive, massive array of planners on the ground throughout the world and maintainers that make sure you’ve always got a good aircraft.”

 


Supreme Court allows Trump to restart swift deportation of migrants away from their home countries

Updated 27 min 6 sec ago
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Supreme Court allows Trump to restart swift deportation of migrants away from their home countries

  • Since some countries do not accept US deportations, the administration has reached agreements with other countries, including Panama and Costa Rica, to house them

WASHINGTON: A divided Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Trump administration to restart swift removals of migrants to countries other than their homelands, lifting for now a court order requiring they get a chance to challenge the deportations.
The high court majority did not detail its reasoning in the brief order, as is typical on its emergency docket. All three liberal justices dissented from the order.
It came after immigration officials put eight people on a plane to South Sudan in May. US District Judge Brian E. Murphy in Boston found that violated his court order giving people a chance to argue they could be in danger of torture if sent away from their home countries.
The migrants from countries including Myanmar, Vietnam and Cuba had been convicted of serious crimes in the US and immigration officials have said that they were unable to return them quickly to their home countries.
Authorities instead landed the plane at a US naval base in Djibouti, where the migrants were housed in a converted shipping container and the officers guarding them faced rough conditions even as immigration attorneys waited for word from their clients.
The case comes amid a sweeping immigration crackdown by Republican President Donald Trump’s administration, which has pledged to deport millions of people who are living in the United States illegally.
Since some countries do not accept US deportations, the administration has reached agreements with other countries, including Panama and Costa Rica, to house them. South Sudan, meanwhile, has endured repeated waves of violence since gaining independence in 2011.
Murphy’s order doesn’t prohibit deportations to third countries. But it says migrants must have a real chance to argue they could be in serious danger if sent to another country.
The justices have confronted a similar issue in Trump’s effort to send Venezuelans accused of being gang members to a notorious prison in El Salvador with little chance to challenge the deportations in court.
In that case, the court said migrants must get a “reasonable time” to file a court challenge before being removed, and the majority blocked the administration from resuming the deportations while lower courts worked out exactly how long they should get.
The conservative-majority court has sided with Trump in other immigration cases, however, clearing the way for his administration to end temporary legal protections affecting a total of nearly a million immigrants.
The third-country deportation case has been one of several legal flashpoints as the administration rails against judges whose rulings have slowed the president’s policies.
Another order from Murphy, who was appointed by President Joe Biden, resulted in the Trump administration returning a gay Guatemalan man who had been wrongly deported to Mexico, where he says he had been raped and extorted. The man, identified in court papers as O.C.G, was the first person known to have been returned to US custody after deportation since the start of Trump’s second term.


US hit by first extreme heat wave of the year

A bird bathes in a water fountain in Manhattan on June 23, 2025, in New York City. (AFP)
Updated 24 June 2025
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US hit by first extreme heat wave of the year

  • Heat records tumbled across parts of the US Northeast, including in Central Park, known as the lungs of Manhattan, where Monday’s temperature of 96 degrees broke a record that had stood since 1888, according to the National Weather Service

NEW YORK: A potentially life-threatening heat wave enveloped the eastern third of the United States on Monday impacting nearly 160 million people, with temperatures expected to climb to 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) in the New York metropolitan area.
The country’s first significant scorching heat of the year arrived over the weekend and peaks Monday and Tuesday in Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York City.
“This extreme heat will not just be uncomfortable and oppressive for New Yorkers,” warned Mayor Eric Adams, adding that each year heat claims the lives of 500 people in this city of eight million.
“It’s going to be brutal and dangerous if you do not treat it with the understanding that we want you to,” he added.
As sweltering heat enveloped the city, authorities urged seniors, people with health problems and those without air conditioning to stay hydrated and seek help at designated cooling centers such as libraries and recreation facilities.
Heat records tumbled across parts of the US Northeast, including in Central Park, known as the lungs of Manhattan, where Monday’s temperature of 96 degrees broke a record that had stood since 1888, according to the National Weather Service.
“Extreme Heat Warnings and Heat Adviseries across much of the eastern third of the country (are) affecting nearly 160 million people” across at least 29 states, the NWS reported.
“This level of HeatRisk is known for being rare and/or long duration with little to no overnight relief, and affects anyone without effective cooling and/or adequate hydration,” the agency warned.
Meteorologists are describing the intensifying weather pattern as a heat dome, a high-pressure system that traps air and leads to steadily rising thermal readings.
For many in the Big Apple, avoiding work in the searing heat was not an option.
“We have to endure it, because otherwise what are we going to survive on?” Manuel, a manual worker repairing a building facade in New York’s Harlem neighborhood, told AFP.
“Sometimes we stop because it’s a danger. We don’t all have the same energy, but you have to endure,” he added.
In the Washington Heights neighborhood, authorities opened several fire hydrants so residents could seek relief with the gushing water.
One of the local heroes was Ronald Marcelin, a 44-year-old air conditioning technician sweating profusely as he repaired a pizzeria’s AC unit.
“I’m taking the heat so that everyone else can cool down,” Marcelin said with a grin.

The soaring temperatures come just as New Yorkers head to the polls Tuesday for the Democratic primary that will decide the party’s mayoral candidate. This promises to be a tight race between Andrew Cuomo, who is seeking political resurrection after resigning in disgrace as state governor in 2021, and rising left-wing star Zohran Mamdami.
Over the weekend, Cuomo urged residents to cast their votes even if the temperatures hit 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
In Washington, the heat index — what the temperature feels like with humidity factored in — was forecast to soar to as high as 110 F on Monday, and the mayor’s office urged residents to take advantage of cooling centers.
Scientists say extreme heat waves are a clear sign of global warming, and they are expected to become more frequent, longer, and more intense.
Fueled by human-caused climate change, 2024 was the warmest year on record globally — and 2025 is projected to rank among the top three.

 


EU will not yield decision-making right in US tariff talks, says von der Leyen

Updated 23 June 2025
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EU will not yield decision-making right in US tariff talks, says von der Leyen

  • Her comments come amid speculation that Washington may be pressing Brussels into delaying the implementation of laws such as those on deforestation and online platforms or providing exemptions to US companies

BRUSSELS: The European Union will not give up its right to make policy decisions in negotiations with the United States to avert higher US tariffs on EU goods, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday.
“Of course, we discuss tariff lines, we discuss non-tariff barriers, like standards and norms. For example, we discuss strategic purchases, we discuss all these topics,” von der Leyen told a news conference after an EU-Canada summit.
“But where it is the sovereign decision-making process in the European Union and its member states that is affected, this is too far,” she continued, adding this was an “untouchable.”
Her comments come amid speculation that Washington may be pressing Brussels into delaying the implementation of laws such as those on deforestation and online platforms or providing exemptions to US companies.