The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) chief Filippo Grandi on Friday warned countries focussing on helping Ukraine to “not ignore the crises elsewhere”. He urged EU members and other countries to not reduce overseas development aid because of the higher spending related to the Ukraine crisis. Grandi further said that if other crises are ignored, “it will backfire”.
The UNHCR said the global displacement crisis is also likely to worsen due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
“First of all because Ukraine has an impact on many other fragile situations, making them more fragile, food security, energy crisis, price increases, instability, and then this, in turn, can cause more displacement,” he said before joining a meeting of EU development ministers in Brussels.
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He further said the ‘colossal crisis’ in Ukraine would “raise the number of displaced people globally well above the 84 million it reached in late 2021 – with some 6 million refugees from Ukraine and 8 million people displaced inside the country”.
Grandi added, “Unfortunately the global displacement crisis is increasing. I think an important message… is that there is not just Ukraine and we should not forget the rest.”
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Several countries are stepping up to help Ukraine as Russia shows no signs of stopping the war. The Group of Seven (G&) countries are providing $19.8 billion in aid to bolster Ukraine’s public finances. The US Congress has approved a military and humanitarian aid package worth nearly $40 billion for Ukraine.
Meanwhile, US president Joe Biden is seeking more $33 billion in aid for the war-torn country. Several other countries, including Japan and Germany, are providing help to Ukraine.
(With inputs from agencies)