Sudanese refugees collect water from a tap at the Gorom Refugee camp hosting Sudanese refugees on World Refugee Day, to celebrate the strength and courage of people who have been forced to flee their home country to escape conflict under the theme "hope away from home" near Juba, in South Sudan June 20, 2023. REUTERS/Samir Bol/File Photo
GENEVA (Reuters) -The head of the U.N. refugee agency said on Monday the organisation was facing one of the most difficult moments in its more than 70-year history, with some 110 million people displaced around the world and a major funding shortfall.
Conflicts from Ukraine to Sudan have pushed displacements to record levels around the globe at a time when some governments, including once welcoming ones like Germany, face growing pressure to get tougher on asylum seekers.
In an address to the UNHCR's governing body, Filippo Grandi urged countries to respect the rights of those fleeing conflict or persecution guaranteed under the 1951 Refugee Convention the body was created to oversee.
"I'm asking quite solemnly, that you focus at least on the areas on which we can agree and especially that people forced to flee their homes due to conflict or persecution, have rights as human beings and as refugees and displaced," he told the Executive Committee.
"The task with which you have entrusted UNHCR is at one of its most difficult moments in our history," he said. "The world is increasingly divided, fragmented and inward-looking."
The organisation faces a $650 million funding shortfall this year and the outlook for 2024 is "even more worrying", he added.
(Reporting by Emma Farge; editing by Matthias Williams and Angus MacSwan)
