The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said on Friday that cuts to financial aid are putting the health of nearly 13 million displaced people at risk. Humanitarian organizations around the world have been affected since US President Donald Trump returned to power last January, pushing an agenda that runs counter to the interests of refugees and immigrants and immediately freezing most US foreign aid funding.
The United States has traditionally been UNHCR’s top donor, accounting for more than 40 percent of total contributions received. “By 2025, an estimated 12.2 million displaced people, including 6.3 million children, could be deprived of life-saving health interventions due to a lack of adequate resources,” said Alain Maina, UNHCR’s Chief of Public Health.
“The current humanitarian funding crisis, exacerbated by declining health spending in donor countries, is affecting the scope and quality of public health and nutrition programs for refugees and host communities, hindering access to essential services and increasing the risk of disease outbreaks, malnutrition, untreated chronic conditions and mental health problems.”
Citing the example of the cuts, Maina said that around one million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh are facing a serious health crisis and that the suspension of financial assistance has jeopardized their access to health services. He said the suspension of nutrition programs in various camps in Burundi means that thousands of refugee children under the age of five will not be able to receive adequate treatment for malnutrition.
UNHCR’s health budget for 2025 in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been cut by 87 percent compared to 2024. “The health consequences of funding cuts in Congo are expected to be devastating. This will put more than 520,000 refugees at high risk of infectious diseases and death,” Maina said.
In Egypt, all UNHCR treatment for refugees has been suspended, except for emergency life-saving procedures. A survey conducted by the UNHCR health team estimated that 12.8 million displaced people would be without health care. UNHCR spokesman William Spindler said other traditional top donors were also reducing their funding.
