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Over 11-million refugees may lose aid access due to cuts, says UN agency
Up to 11.6-million refugees are in danger of losing access to humanitarian assistance due to cuts in foreign aid by donor nations, the UN refugee agency said on Friday.
This is about one-third of refugees normally supported by the UN agency, it said.
'Our funding situation is dramatic. We fear that up to 11.6-million refugees and people forced to flee are losing access to humanitarian assistance provided by UNHCR,' said Dominique Hyde, UNHCR's director of external relations.
Just 23% of the UNHCR's funding requirement of $10.6bn (R187.77bn) has been fulfilled so far for this year, it said.
The funding crisis stems from large foreign aid cuts by donor countries such as Sweden, France and Japan, compounded by major US aid cuts.
Forced displacement is increasing globally, while humanitarian aid is sharply decreasing, creating a 'deadly cocktail' that places displaced populations at grave risk, according to a new report published on Friday by the UNHCR.
