A IMGlobalWealth.com News Report
The head of the United Nations refugee agency has accused the United States of pursuing deportation practices that violate international law, marking a rare and direct censure of Washington from within the UN system.
Speaking in Geneva at the opening of the UNHCR’s executive committee session, Filippo Grandi, the organisation’s high commissioner, said he was “worried that some current deportation practices, such as in the United States, address real challenges in manners not consistent with international law.” His remarks, reported by Reuters and the Associated Press, come as the Trump administration intensifies efforts to seal America’s southern border and tighten asylum eligibility.
“Grandi reminded delegates that poorer nations continue to bear the heaviest burden, hosting the vast majority of the world’s 122 million forcibly displaced people”
A State Department spokesman defended the administration’s stance, saying U.S. actions are “consistent with U.S. law and the will of the American people.” Yet legal experts and humanitarian observers argue that measures such as accelerated removals and restrictive safe-third-country arrangements risk breaching the 1951 Refugee Convention, which forbids returning people to countries where they may face persecution.
“The US remains the agency’s single largest donor, contributing about $1.6B in 2024, or more than one-third of its total funding”
Grandi’s warning reflects growing concern inside UNHCR that the political backlash against migration in wealthy nations is corroding long-standing international norms. The agency itself is in financial turmoil. According to its latest financial report, UNHCR expects to receive around 3.9 billion dollars in 2025, roughly a quarter below last year’s level and far short of its global needs. Nearly 5,000 staff have already been dismissed, and more than 180 field offices have been scaled back or closed.
The United States remains the agency’s single largest donor, contributing about 1.6 billion dollars in 2024, or more than one-third of its total funding. Yet Washington’s shift towards stricter border controls and reduced humanitarian spending has reverberated across the UN system. Several European governments have also redirected resources from refugee support to domestic security and migration enforcement.
Grandi reminded delegates that poorer nations continue to bear the heaviest burden, hosting the vast majority of the world’s 122 million forcibly displaced people. He urged governments not to confuse sovereignty with rejection, insisting that “national sovereignty and the right to seek asylum are not incompatible; they are complementary.”
Despite highlighting modest progress in eastern Congo and the return of over one million Syrian refugees, Grandi’s message remained sombre. As funding dwindles and asylum principles are tested by politics, the post-war moral framework that once defined refugee protection risks being hollowed out from within.
