by Emma Farge
GENEVA, Dec 13 (Reuters) – Thousands of United Nations officials, politicians and representatives of international organizations are gathering in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday to participate in the Global Refugee Forum, as the High The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) believes that many Western countries portray refugees as a threat.
Some 114 million people worldwide have been displaced, including around 40 million refugees fleeing active conflicts, including in Sudan and Ukraine.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said many Western politicians were becoming less welcoming of the enormous challenge.
“It’s very easy to say, ‘Be careful. These people are coming. They’re stealing your jobs, they’re threatening your security, your values,’ and to win votes like that,” Filippo Grandi told Reuters. “You won’t get rid of the problem. The problem will remain and you will have done something wrong,” he added.
“The right decision is more complicated, less easy to explain to public opinion (…) but it remains possible. Systems can be improved, integration can be strengthened.”
Filippo Grandi did not name a government, but he has in the past said Britain’s program of sending asylum seekers back to Rwanda was “entirely wrong”. He also suggested improvements for U.S. migrant policies.
UNHCR organizes the Global Refugee Forum every four years, as part of an existing structure aimed at equitably sharing refugee responsibilities.
More than 4,000 people are expected in Geneva, including eight heads of state and around thirty foreign ministers. Refugees themselves represent around 10% of participants.
Filippo Grandi said he hoped funding pledges would also be made, adding that there was also “great uncertainty” over how much UNHCR’s main donors, the United States and Germany, might allocate. in 2024.
The High Commissioner for Refugees said he hoped the event would also draw attention to other crises, such as the one unfolding in Sudan, where the conflict between the Sudanese army and the paramilitaries of the Rapid Support Forces ( FSR) caused the displacement of nearly 1.1 million people. (With the contribution of Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber; French version Camille Raynaud)
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