As 117 Million People Flee Conflict, Persecution, Respecting International Refugee Law, Restoring Aid Are Crucial, Secretary-General Tells Jesuit Refugee Service Dinner

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres' remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the Jesuit Refugee Service USA's forty-fifth anniversary dinner, in New York today:

I am pleased to join you this evening and help commemorate this milestone. For 45 years, the Jesuit Refugee Service has been coming to the aid of people uprooted by conflict and persecution; accompanying them in their suffering; providing them with vital services; advocating for their dignity and rights. This work is much more than an act of charity. It is an expression of humanity.

The Jesuit Refugee Service was formed in response to the boat crisis in South-East Asia, offering hope to people fleeing persecution and crushing poverty. And for four and a half decades, you have delivered. Across the world, you have helped hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people access education, mental healthcare and other critical services. And here in the United States, you have been a compelling advocate on border issues and the rights of refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants, including those in detention.

Your inspiring principles have deep roots. Compassion for the oppressed and marginalized has been a Jesuit precept for nearly 500 years, going back to Saints Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier. One of my cherished moments as High Commissioner for Refugees was meeting Pope Francis, the first Jesuit Pontiff, who ministered to refugees and called public attention to the dangerous journeys so many people take in search of safety.

But our world keeps turning its back on those in distress. Allow me, then, to address three pressing concerns.

First, mounting humanitarian needs. Nine years ago, when I concluded my tenure as High Commissioner, 65 million women, children and men were fleeing conflict or persecution. It was a staggering number at the time, but the crises kept piling up - in Myanmar, Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo and beyond. Today, this figure stands at about 117 million - 1 in every 70 people on earth. The sum total of their heartache and suffering is beyond comprehension.

In Sudan, nearly 12 million people have been displaced inside the country and across borders, including countless women and girls raped as they fled. Reports of recent atrocities in El Fasher shock the conscience - not only for their scale and severity, but because the world saw it coming and did so little to stop it. In Gaza, most of the population has been displaced multiple times, humanitarian access has often been hindered and healthcare infrastructure has been decimated.

In Myanmar, discrimination and instability continue to impede the possibility of safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return for the 1.2 million stateless Rohingya refugees generously hosted in Bangladesh. In Ukraine, the full-scale war has caused untold destruction and displaced over 9.5 million people inside and outside the country. And in eastern Congo and Haiti, conflict and violence continue to drive people from their homes.

In too many places, human rights are being violated, humanitarian assistance is being denied and human lives are being lost. Reversing these trends requires respect for the UN Charter, stronger multilateral cooperation, and more meaningful negotiation.

Second, respect for international refugee law. The right to seek asylum, and the moral obligation to protect people fleeing danger, are enshrined in sacred texts and religions across the world.

After the Second World War, the international community echoed these tenets in the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. These treaties have spelled the difference between life or death for millions. But, these instruments and their principles are increasingly questioned. The truth is, most refugees stay in neighbouring countries, hoping to return home as soon as conditions allow.

But, when international support falters and local solutions erode, it compels the most desperate to move on - often entrusting their lives to smugglers and traffickers to cross deserts, jungles and seas. The growing scale, scope and complexity of these movements - with refugees and migrants travelling the same routes and facing many of the same dangers - strains border management and asylum systems.

But, the answer is not to push aside the Refugee Convention. States have the right to control their borders. But, they also have a duty to protect those fleeing for their lives and to never send people back into danger. These principles are fully compatible as long as they are followed in good faith.

We must safeguard the integrity of the refugee protection regime, working with States and other actors to ensure it is applied in a way that meets the challenges of our time. We must reaffirm that the Refugee Convention and its Protocol are the cornerstone of international refugee law and are as necessary today as several decades ago. And we must ensure that asylum continues to save lives - as it currently does in places like Uganda, Chad, [Republic of] Moldova and Bangladesh.

Third, restoring humanitarian support. The humanitarian system is overstretched, underfunded and under attack. Despite mounting needs, funding is in free fall - plunging roughly 50 per cent from its peak three years ago. This unprecedented drop hinders our ability to protect refugees and provide life-saving assistance. It has forced the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to close offices, cut more than a quarter of its staff and cancel vital programmes.

A domino effect is hitting our humanitarian partners, including local, refugee-led and faith-based organizations, which are often the first to respond to crises, and among the most trusted. And it is taking a toll on vulnerable refugee and host communities. Families who lost everything when they fled their homes now face a second crisis: losing the support they rely on to survive.

Humanitarian teams are having to hyper-prioritize, focusing on those at greatest risk while hoping others with marginally less urgent needs can somehow make do. This brutal but necessary triage means up to 11.6 million people may lose access to direct assistance from UNHCR. In a world that spends so freely on war, they deserve much better.

Strategic and sustained investments in refugees and their hosts, including development assistance, pay real and valuable dividends. They bring stability by enabling people to thrive where they are. Enhance regional security by preventing conflicts from spreading. Lift up host communities. And prepare refugees to return and rebuild their countries when the time is right - like the 1 million Syrian refugees who have returned home in the past year. With more international solidarity, we can help make these returns sustainable.

Even as it struggles with funding shortfalls, the humanitarian sector is under attack on multiple other fronts. We see campaigns to discredit, disrupt and disable its operations. Attempts to deliver aid outside the humanitarian system that betray its fundamental principles. And the targeting, kidnapping and killing of humanitarian workers. It must stop. Aid must never be weaponized, and those who deliver it must never be demonized.

Giving refuge to people in peril is more than a tradition. It's a moral and practical necessity. Let's work together to uphold the right to seek asylum, a pillar of international law; insist on the shared responsibility to provide international protection; strengthen refugee inclusion, through enhanced funding for host communities. Expand durable solutions, including refugee resettlement; and summon the political will to resolve conflicts.

Once again, I congratulate the Jesuit Refugee Service on accompanying people in need for 45 years. And I commend the example you set by welcoming the stranger with compassion and humanity.