Less aid means more refugees, UNHCR's Grandi warns Berlin

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, is appealing to the German parliament to expand humanitarian aid, as the Bundestag prepares to finalize next year's budget.

"Keeping the humanitarian budget as low as it is is a huge strategic mistake," he told dpa in a recent interview.

On November 13, the Bundestag's budget committee is meeting to finalize the 2026 budget. Germany has more than halved humanitarian aid this year compared with 2024, from €2.3 billion ($2.66 billion] to €1.05 billion. The same level is planned for 2026.

"If humanitarian aid is diminishing, you will have a push again of people towards Europe," Grandi said, referring to the migration surge of 2015-16, when hundreds of thousands of refugees came to Germany, including many from war-torn Syria.

Grandi noted that humanitarian support for Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries had been cut at the time due to budgetary constraints. This was one of the reasons for the mass migration, he argued.

A similar situation is occurring now, the high commissioner noted. As an example, he said drastic funding cuts by the United States, Germany, Britain, France and other countries meant that assistance had shrunk for people fleeing from the bloody conflict in Sudan to Chad.

"You know who is already controlling those areas? The traffickers," Grandi said, adding that they were telling people: "Look, you are in a desperate situation ... Go with us to Libya. Give us a bit of money. Go to Libya, and then from there we'll take you to Europe."

Grandi appealed to German politicians to change their minds and increase funding for 2026. Besides refugees from Sudan, many other people in Africa's Sahel region - badly affected by conflict and climate change - were also seeking a way out, he noted.

"Don't expect the humanitarian agencies to be able to contain these crises if you don't reverse this track," Grandi said.