The UN warns of a difficult winter for refugees

The United Nations warned on Tuesday that millions of refugees and displaced people face a grueling winter, with far less humanitarian aid available this year as the coldest months reach the northern hemisphere.

UNHCR has seen its funding from governments cut and is trying to raise at least $35 million in public donations to help Syrian, Afghan and Ukrainian refugees over the winter.

“Families will have to endure freezing temperatures without things many of us take for granted: proper shelter, insulation, heating, blankets, warm clothes or medicine,” said UNHCR’s head of external relations, Dominique Hyde.

Under President Donald Trump, the United States, traditionally the world’s top donor, has cut foreign aid.

Washington previously accounted for more than 40 percent of UNHCR’s budget, and other major donor countries have also tightened their belts, leaving the agency’s finances looking bleak.

“Humanitarian budgets have reached breaking point and the winter support we offer will be much less this year,” Hyde said.

“We need more funding to make many lives slightly more bearable.”

UNCHR said it is critical that private donors step in now to help save lives.

“The UNHCR plans to raise at least $35 million to help repair bombed houses, insulate homes, provide warmth and blankets to children and the elderly, and money to buy medicine and hot food,” it said.

Returning refugees will also be affected, the agency warned.

More than a million Syrian refugees have returned since the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime last December.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said many were returning to find their homes destroyed by Syria’s 14-year civil war.

“The most vulnerable families face the cold with nothing to shield them; funding cuts risk leaving 750,000 people without vital support during the season,” it said. AFP