Global refugee crisis 2025 has hit an all-time high. The figure of displaced individuals due to war and persecution across the globe has now exceeded 122 million, as reported by the UN and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). While some repatriations, such as Syrians following Bashar al-Assad’s collapse, continue to go on, persistent hostilities in Sudan, Ukraine, and Myanmar have contributed more than 2 million additional people to displacement statistics worldwide by April 2025.
Meanwhile, support for refugees in the form of funding has fallen to levels experienced in 2015, when the number of refugees stood at hardly half the current number. This lethal mix of rising temperatures and declining resources is exposing millions to hunger, violence, and exploitation.
Conflicts Continue Raging, No Peace in Sight
The report attributes the steep increase in displacement to unsettled wars and the failure of the world to bring an end to long conflicts. Sudan’s civil war, Myanmar’s bloody crackdown, and Russia’s attack on Ukraine are ongoing.
In the face of negotiations and diplomacy, the combat rages on without resolution. UNHCR head Filippo Grandi cautioned that contemporary warfare has generated “a fragile, harrowing landscape marked by acute human suffering.”
Aid Cuts Leave Refugees More Vulnerable
As the need for assistance increases, worldwide funding for humanitarian relief is decreasing. UNHCR says that the funding has now fallen to 2015 levels. But today’s refugees are twice the number of 2015. Cuts to aid have become “brutal and relentless,” the agency states, putting millions in harm’s way.
Refugees, particularly women and children, are now more vulnerable to rape, trafficking, and hunger. This is an untenable situation, says the UN.
Shortage of Political Will to End Conflicts
Humanitarian organizations are issuing a warning of profound exhaustion. They indicate that the international response is stalling not just owing to funding but also because of a lack of political will.
There is minimal leadership in making peace agreements progress. Consequently, conflicts extend and aid workers are left to deal with the aftermath using few instruments.
The UNHCR did not specify countries that reduced funding. But it noted that the United States—traditionally the biggest donor—has reduced most foreign aid during President Donald Trump’s rule. Britain and other European countries have also cut back. They are now investing more in defence and less in humanitarian aid.