From Syria, UN Refugee Chief Calls For Greater Solidarity With Displaced People
20 June 2025
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, sounded the alarm on Friday, World Refugee Day, in a message from Syria.
He said the abject failure to end conflicts – including in Sudan, Ukraine, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gaza – continues to create immense suffering.
Difficulty seeking shelter
'Yet the innocent people who run for their lives as the bullets fly and the missiles rain down are unjustly stigmatised, making it harder to escape danger and to find somewhere to recover and rebuild,' he said.
Their situation is further compounded by brutal cuts to humanitarian aid, affecting millions who desperately need assistance.
' At this critical juncture, it is vital that we reaffirm our solidarity with refugees – not just with words but with urgent action,' he said.
He added that inspiring examples already exists, from countries that continue to welcome and host refugees, to local communities that 'open their homes, workplaces and hearts' to them, as well as 'the countless individual acts of kindness and compassion that reveal our common humanity.'
Share the responsibility
Mr. Grandi said the international community can and must support these countries and communities by sharing the responsibility for protecting refugees, calling in particular for action by wealthier States, development banks, businesses and others.
The High Commissioner spent the Day in Syria, where some 600,000 people have returned from neighbouring countries after 14 years of war. Overall, more than two million Syrians have gone back to their homes and communities since the fall of the Assad regime last December.
'In a region that has suffered so much violence – and suffers even now – we are nonetheless presented with an opportunity to help Syrians achieve stability and prosperity. We must not let it pass by,' he said.
Mr. Grandi met Syrian families who spent more than a decade as refugees, whose deep joy at being among familiar faces and surroundings serve as reminder of refugees' yearning for home.
'Now more than ever, we must stand with refugees to keep alive their hopes of a better future,' he said.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
8 hours ago
- Scoop
Guterres Calls For Immediate Gaza Ceasefire As Humanitarian Crisis Reaches ‘Horrific Proportions'
Speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters ahead of his departure to Spain for the International Conference on Financing for Development, the Secretary-General said that while the Israel-Iran conflict had dominated recent headlines, the plight of civilians in Gaza remained urgent and dire. ' Families have been displaced again and again – and are now confined to less than one-fifth of Gaza's land,' he said. ' Even these shrinking spaces are under threat. Bombs are falling – on tents, on families, on those with nowhere left to run. ' Search for food must never be a death sentence Mr. Guterres described the situation as the most severe since the onset of the war, citing acute shortages of food, fuel, medicine and shelter. ' The search for food must never be a death sentence,' he said, highlighting the danger faced by Palestinians simply trying to survive. He has repeatedly called for three urgent steps: an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, and full, unimpeded humanitarian access. On Friday, he again pressed for these demands, emphasising that aid workers are starving, hospitals are rationing life-saving supplies and civilians are trapped in unsafe zones. Surge in aid urgently needed 'What's needed now is a surge – the trickle must become an ocean,' he said. The UN chief stressed that Israel, as the occupying power, is legally obliged to facilitate humanitarian relief. 'To those in power, I say: enable our operations as international humanitarian law demands. To those with influence, I say: use it,' he added. Earlier this week, a small convoy of UN medical supplies entered Gaza for the first time in months, Mr. Guterres noted, adding that it only underscored the overwhelming scale of the need. He also also cautioned that any aid delivery method must ensure civilian safety, stressing that 'operations which place desperate people in or near militarized areas are inherently unsafe.' ' We have the solution – a detailed plan grounded in the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence,' he said. ' It worked during the last ceasefire. So it must be allowed to work again. ' Two-State solution critical Mr. Guterres concluded with a broader political appeal: ''
NZ Herald
20 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Syria faces wheat crisis as drought and war push millions toward hunger
Rival Syrian and Kurdish producers are scrambling for shrinking wheat harvests as the worst drought in decades follows a devastating war, pushing more than 16 million people toward food insecurity. 'The country has not seen such bad climate conditions in 60 years,' said Haya Abu Assaf, assistant to the United
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Otago Daily Times
No known intelligence that Iran moved uranium: Hegseth
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says he was unaware of any intelligence suggesting Iran had moved any of its highly enriched uranium to shield it from US strikes on Iran's nuclear programme during the weekend. US military bombers carried out strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities early on Sunday (local time) using more than a dozen 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs. The results of the strikes are being closely watched to see how far they may have set back Iran's nuclear programme. "I'm not aware of any intelligence that I've reviewed that says things were not where they were supposed to be, moved or otherwise," Hegseth told an often fiery news conference. US President Donald Trump, who watched the exchange with reporters, echoed his defense secretary, saying it would have taken too long to remove anything. "The cars and small trucks at the site were those of concrete workers trying to cover up the top of the shafts. Nothing was taken out of (the) facility," Trump wrote on his social media platform, without providing evidence. Several experts have cautioned that Iran likely moved a stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched uranium out of the deeply buried Fordow site before the strikes, and could be hiding it in locations unknown to Israel, the US and UN nuclear inspectors. They noted satellite imagery from Maxar Technologies showing "unusual activity" at Fordow on Thursday and Friday, with a long line of vehicles waiting outside an entrance to the facility. A senior Iranian source told Reuters on Sunday most of the 60% highly enriched uranium had been moved to an undisclosed location before the attack. WHEREABOUTS OF URANIUM The Financial Times, citing European intelligence assessments, reported that Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile remains largely intact since it was not concentrated at Fordow. Hegseth's comments denying such claims came at the news briefing where he also accused journalists of downplaying the success of the US strikes following a leaked preliminary assessment from the Defense Intelligence Agency suggesting they may have only set back Iran by months. He said the assessment was "low confidence", and, citing comments from CIA Director John Ratcliffe, said it had been overtaken by intelligence showing Iran's nuclear programme was severely damaged and would take years to rebuild. Ratcliffe, Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held a classified briefing on the strikes on Thursday for all 100 members of the US Senate. Tulsi Gabbard, who normally would conduct such briefings as director of national intelligence, was not scheduled to participate. Trump said last week that she was wrong in suggesting there was no evidence Iran was building a nuclear weapon. The Senate briefing had been scheduled for Tuesday, but was postponed. Senators are expected to vote this week on a resolution that would require congressional approval for strikes against Iran, although the measure is not expected to be enacted. At the Pentagon news conference, Hegseth described the strikes as "historically successful." His comments came after Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Thursday Iran would respond to any future US attack by striking American military bases in the Middle East. Khamenei claimed victory after 12 days of war, and promised Iran would not surrender despite Trump's calls. MEDIA 'HATRED' During the news conference, Hegseth criticised the media, without evidence, for having an anti-Trump bias. "It's in your DNA and in your blood to cheer against Trump because you want him not to be successful so bad," Hegseth said. "There are so many aspects of what our brave men and women did that ... because of the hatred of this press corps, are undermined," he said. Trump praised Hegseth's news conference as: "One of the greatest, most professional, and most 'confirming' News Conferences I have ever seen!" On X, Hegseth thanked Trump for his praise. During the press conference, Caine, the top US general largely stuck to technical details, outlining the history of the bunker-busting bombs used. Caine showed a video testing the bombs on a bunker like the ones struck on Sunday. Caine declined to provide his own assessment of the strike and deferred to the intelligence community. He denied being under any pressure to change his assessment to present a more optimistic view of the US strikes. He also said he would not change his assessment due to politics. Uniformed military officials are supposed to remain apolitical and provide their best military advice. "I've never been pressured by the president or the secretary to do anything other than tell them exactly what I'm thinking, and that's exactly what I've done," he said.
