28 April 2025
Mr. President,
We thank the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, for his statement on current issues of international assistance to refugees and displaced persons.
Assisting refugees and addressing their problems is particularly pressing in light of the unprecedented scale of humanitarian crisis throughout the world. Last year marked a bleak record in terms of the number of people who were forced to flee their homes and countries in the quest to survive.
What should be addressed first and foremost when it comes to the crisis of forced displacement is the situation in Gaza.
The indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza has already forced more than one million Gazans to flee their homes to save their lives. But even in places where they find shelter and refuge, those deprived of everything may face life-threatening peril. Since October 7, 2023, 742 people have died and over 2,400 have been injured as a result of Israeli attacks targeting civilian objects, including refugee camps and other UNRWA shelter sites. Among those being killed are also people who selflessly provide assistance to Palestinian refugees. Thus, since the beginning of the IDF military operation, over 290 UNRWA staff members have been killed.
The magnitude of the humanitarian catastrophe is growing with each passing day. The Israeli authorities continue to impede the entry of humanitarian aid. Thus, the import of food and medicines into the Gaza Strip has been blocked for nearly 60 days, which has resulted in the exhaustion of stockpiles. The humanitarian organization has sounded the alarm about impending famine, especially among children. There is no water, no food, no fuel in the Strip. Those who manage to escape the bombings face starvation, infectious diseases and lack of adequate medical care.
Meanwhile, UNRWA (UNHCR’s partner organization) continues to provide real assistance to Palestine refugees, and continues to be subjected to unprecedented political pressure and threats, including through reduced funding that is so needed now.
We realize that Palestinian refugees are not directly within UNHCR’s mandate, but we do hope that the UN High Commissioner, as one of the highest UN officials, will continue to monitor the situation and will call on Israel to abide by its international obligations.
Mr. President,
The situation in Gaza and the prosecution of UNRWA once again clearly demonstrate the sad trend to politicize the problems of refugees and internally displaced persons. This is particularly evident when it comes to financing humanitarian programs for assisting refugees. Western countries – who provoked the lion’s share of conflicts around the world, and who triggered the exodus of refugees – are extremely reluctant to finance UNHCR programs to assist refugees inter alia from Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan and many other conflict-torn countries. Moreover, Western countries are zealously enforcing the practice of expelling asylum seekers arriving in their countries back to developing countries.
Against this background, the States of the “golden billion” are constantly voicing alarm about the situation with refugees from Ukraine, but they fail to mention that a significant number of those refugees are heading towards Russia. This is nothing but the notorious policy of “double standards” and the division of the world into “first class” and “second class” people.
The tendency towards politicization can also be seen when it comes to the issue of the voluntary return of Syrian refugees. For many years, the West has blocked their return to their homeland, including by disrupting the implementation of humanitarian projects. Now the West is making declarations that they do provide assistance to the Syrian people, but at the same time they continue to apply unilateral sanctions against Damascus, which afflict, above all, ordinary Syrians. The situation is also unclear in the notorious Al-Hawl and Al-Roj refugee camps, where thousands of women and children who fled the carpet bombing of Raqqa, Hajin and Baghuz are seeking shelter.
We trust that UNHCR will continue to provide assistance in implementing initiatives for the voluntary return of Syrian refugees to their homeland.
Mr. President,
We note UNHCR’s efforts to provide assistance to Ukrainian Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and Refugees. Let us recall that since 2014, after the coup in Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of Russian and Russian-speaking residents of Ukraine have fled from Ukraine to Russia. The massive exodus from Ukraine to Russia has been ongoing in subsequent years as well in view of the unabated shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces of peaceful towns in Donbass. Some 5 million people have moved to Russian regions. And Russia is making every effort to accommodate and resettle these people and provide them with comprehensive assistance. UNHCR representatives in Moscow are always able to see for themselves how effective the work in various Russian regions is as regards ensuring decent conditions for refugees.
Mr. President,
In the context of the situation of refugees, the African continent stands out as an example. Despite all the economic difficulties, African countries have been for years setting an example of solidarity and assistance to displaced persons, which is in a stark contrast to what Western countries tend to do. And in this regard, African countries have every right to count on international support and recognition.
We share the concerns about the difficult situation of the Sudanese population due to the armed conflict that has lasted for more than two years. The burden of refugee outflows is borne by all neighboring States, including Egypt, the Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Egypt. Together, those countries have already accommodated some 2 million Sudanese. The number of internally displaced persons in the country is reaching 11 million people.
In such a situation it is necessary to systematically step up assistance to the Sudanese Government in addressing the entire range of humanitarian problems. Let me emphasize that it is important to establish cooperation precisely with the Government of Sudan, as it bears full responsibility for normalizing the situation in the country and enhancing security, as well as for addressing the myriad issues related to IDPs and refugees.
Mr. President,
Finally, I would like to once again draw your attention to the plight of refugees in the Mediterranean. Year after year, the Mediterranean continues to be a “mass grave” for many of those who attempt to reach Europe. Appalling tragic deaths at sea continue to occur on a regular basis. Yet, as far as providing assistance is concerned, we still see no attempts to do so on the part of Western Europe, nor is there any other response from them. People in need get no assistance; instead, European countries tend to deliberately throw those people outside of the “zone of their jurisdiction”, condemning them to certain death. They also continue to interfere with the activities of humanitarian NGOs that provide assistance to refugees.
The situation is intolerable both in terms of international law and in terms of pure humanity. People are dying, but no one is being held accountable for this. Naturally, the situation will not change unless safe ports are assigned for refugees (rescued or intercepted at sea) to disembark on shore, as per the norms of international maritime law.
We call upon the High Commissioner to keep the Mediterranean region in focus of his attention and continue to urge the European Union to uphold international obligations, to demonstrate accountability and to combat impunity.
In conclusion, we would like to support Mr. Grandi’s call vis-à-vis the need to continue funding humanitarian efforts despite the financial difficulties. For our part, we wish to note that, all financial constraints notwithstanding, last week Russia managed to allocate $2 million to support UNHCR activities.
Thank you.