Refugees

In Gaza, United Nations humanitarian colleagues warn that the already catastrophic conditions on the ground are deteriorating even further. The UN continues to receive reports of tents, schools, homes and medical facilities coming under attack, with scores of people killed or injured every single day.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees estimates 2.5 million refugees worldwide will need to be resettled in 2026, down from 2.9 million in 2025, even as the global number of refugees continues growing. This is mainly due to the changed situation in Syria, which has allowed for voluntary returns.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warns that the number of malnourished children in Gaza is rising at an alarming rate, with more than 5,100 children between 6 months and 5 years of age admitted for treatment for acute malnutrition in May alone.

In Haiti, the UN’s humanitarian country team is sounding the alarm about the need for enhanced preparedness ahead of the Atlantic hurricane season. Amid severe funding shortfalls, contingency stocks are at their lowest levels ever, as 5.7 million people face severe food insecurity.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Chad, François Batalingaya, said today the country is in crisis with the east reaching a breaking point. Floods impacted nearly 2 million people last year; 3 million people are struggling to feed themselves. The $1.4 billion Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan is only 9 per cent funded.

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message for World Refugee Day, observed on 20 June:

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warns that a complete collapse of Internet and data services is paralysing aid operations across Gaza. This is reportedly not a routine outage — but a total failure of Gaza’s digital infrastructure — and most agencies are largely cut off from teams on the ground.

In Ukraine, attacks across the country, which started last night and continued this morning, have reportedly killed over 45 civilians. The UN and humanitarian partners are providing immediate assistance in the impacted regions, including construction materials, hygiene kits, emergency shelter and psychological support.

In Bangladesh, where monsoon rains and high winds triggered landslides, floods and damage across the Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, the International Organization for Migration, in coordination with State authorities, launched an emergency response to support emergency relocations and rescue operations.

In Gaza, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that the catastrophic situation there is the worst since the war began. Strikes have continued across Gaza, particularly in north Gaza, where the last remaining partially functioning hospital, Al Awda, was forced to evacuate last night.