Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, said that the “massive crisis” in Ukraine has greatly increased the number of IDPs worldwide, which reached 84 million in late 2021, with nearly 6 million refugees from Ukraine and 8 million internally displaced Ukrainians. He said he would increase it.
Filippo Grandi warned that countries focused on helping Ukraine should not ignore other crises that are likely to be exacerbated by the war.
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, Josep Borrell, who chaired the meeting of the European Union development ministers attended by Grandi, said that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees told them that the number of people forced to leave their homes had reached the “red line” of 100 million.
“Unfortunately, the global displacement crisis is escalating. I think the important message is that it’s not just Ukraine, and we shouldn’t forget the rest,” Grandi said before the meeting.
“First of all, this could cause further displacement, as Ukraine makes many other fragile situations more fragile and has an impact on food security, energy crisis, price increases, instability,” Grandi said.
Grandi welcomes EU members and other countries, for example; He urged not to reduce overseas development aid, as Sweden has done, due to higher spending related to the Ukraine crisis, such as dealing with the influx of refugees.
“If we do that and at the same time weaken intervention elsewhere, that will backfire. Then we will face higher costs elsewhere,” Grandi said.
Josep Borrell also said that the EU is aware that the Ukraine war is exacerbating the situation in sensitive areas. Borrell recalled that the bloc has already promised financial aid at conferences for the Horn of Africa, southern Sahara Desert and Lake Chad region.
“Remember the beginning of COVID; after mask diplomacy and then vaccine diplomacy, we are well aware that we are now entering an era of food diplomacy,” Borrell said.