TODAY IS WORLD REFUGEE DAY
Foreign aid cuts and climate change pushing up migrant flows, IOM chief warns
Several rich Western countries, particularly the United States but also many European nations, have cut their development aid budgets in recent years.
Cuts in development aid by wealthy countries tend to drive up displacement away from the world's poorest regions, the head of the UN's International Organisation for Migration warned in an interview with the AFP news agency on the sidelines of the Berlin Climate Mobility Forum on Thursday.
"When we see cuts in development assistance, we're actually just making the likelihood that people will have to leave in search of safety, in search of stability, so much higher," Amy Pope said.
"We've seen it in places like Sudan, which is the world's largest displacement crisis as a result of the war there."
"With decreasing support for humanitarian assistance, we then see more Sudanese look for safety, look for opportunity further afield," she added.
Several rich Western countries, particularly the United States but also many European nations, have cut their development aid budgets in recent years, while also tightening migration policies and strengthening border controls.
"In order to respond to domestic political pressures" many countries are making "short-term decisions...that may not ultimately serve (them) in the long term," she said.
"The more we can connect assistance to the movement of people in ways that are humane and dignified, ways that give people agency and opportunity, the less likely we're going to see large patterns of movement."
Shortly after entering the White House for a second time, US President Donald Trump cut 83% of the programmes run by USAID. Before the cuts, the US development agency managed some 42% of global government humanitarian aid.
Germany has slashed its development budget under successive governments to just over €10 billion this year from nearly €14 billion in 2022.
Climate change fuels migration
Climate change is having an "enormous impact on migration around the world," Pope said.
Small Pacific island states such as Tuvalu are threatened by rising sea levels, while some 10 million people are estimated to have been displaced because of storms in the Philippines, the IOM chief said.
Several regions of Africa have been affected by prolonged drought.
Pope called on policymakers in the wealthiest countries, which bear the greatest responsibility for climate change, to offer more help for people forced to leave their homes.
"What are they willing to invest now to ensure more stability, more options, less likely occurrence of unplanned migration in the future?" she said.
"Let's not wait for the emergency...Let's make the investments now."
Contrary to the narratives being pushed by some political leaders about migration, most displacement happens within countries rather than across borders, Pope said.
By mid-2024 there were an estimated 304 million international migrants, according to the IOM, and more than 700 million internal migrants worldwide.
"In the first instance, people will stay in their country. They will go somewhere in their country if they can find resources or safety. Then they move in the neighbouring countries," Pope said.
Providing support within the countries most affected "actually is a lot less expensive...and will have a more stabilising effect," she added.
"Really, as policymakers, we should be looking at the issue in terms of where can we provide the most support in a way that saves the most lives."
On World Refugee Day, Support Refugees,
Don’t Deport Them
The US dropped the bombs that forced Southeast Asian families to flee and is now deporting them back to the very land that is still littered with American bombs.
Unexploded ordnance are cleared by humanitarian deminers in Phonsavan, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, August, 2003.
(Photo by Thierry Tronnel/Corbis via Getty Images)
Chris Phommasathit
Jun 20, 2026
I was only an infant when my family slipped into a weathered wooden boat under the cover of darkness in 1978. Our journey across the mighty Mekong River was wrapped in an eerie, suffocating stillness as my parents, older brother, and I fled Laos. Whenever my mother recounts that night, she always ends with the same whispered awe: “It is a miracle you and Alex didn’t make a sound. I was terrified we wouldn’t make it.”
It would be decades before I fully grasped the terror of that treacherous crossing, the complex geopolitical forces at play, and the shared history between the US and my birth country that forced us out into the night.
‘Collective Failure of Humanity’: Nearly 118 Million Refugees Violently Displaced Worldwide
I think of that river escape every year on World Refugee Day. It is a day to honor the immense courage of those forced to flee everything they know. For me, it is also a day that demands a deeply honest look at how we treat people once they arrive on our shores.
Following the violence that consumed Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam in 1975, millions fled, culminating in the largest refugee resettlement in American history. We arrived first through sponsorship programs, and later through the Refugee Act of 1980, laying new roots across the US. Today, our Southeast Asian American community has grown to over 3 million, with vibrant enclaves from California to Minnesota, and my home here in Ohio.
Instead of tearing families apart here at home, the United States must commit to fully funding the removal of unexploded ordnance in Laos until the job is done.
My family is one of the lucky ones. After years of hardship, Columbus welcomed us and helped us plant our roots. Today, I am full of gratitude for my parents’ sacrifice, and we are proud to give back through family businesses we built and by serving on nonprofit boards like the annual Columbus Asian Festival and Legacies of War.
Not every story mirrors ours.
Many Southeast Asian refugees were resettled in severely under-resourced, over-policed neighborhoods without the support necessary to heal from the invisible, lingering wounds of war. Forced to navigate poverty and systemic barriers, some young refugees became entangled in the criminal justice system. Decades later—long after they have served their time, rehabilitated, and built families—they are being subjected to a cruel double punishment.
Since 1998, over 17,000 Southeast Asians have received deportation orders. Many have lived here for decades; the United States is their chosen home, and often the only home they have ever known. Once someone is deported, there is almost no way back, severing families permanently. These policies do not make America safer. They merely manufacture new trauma, uprooting lives all over again.
The tragic irony of these deportations is impossible to ignore. We are sending refugees back to a country still littered with the very weapons that drove their families into the dark to begin with.
Laos remains the most heavily bombed country per capita in history. From 1964 to 1973, in a covert effort to destroy traffic along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the US dropped at least 2.5 million tons of ordnance across 580,000 bombing missions. That is the equivalent of a planeload of bombs falling every eight minutes, 24 hours a day, for nine years. Even today, unexploded ordnance continues to claim civilian lives, with children making up over 60% of those harmed.
True accountability requires a different path. It requires cleaning up the remnants of war that America left behind in Laos and honoring the humanity of those who survived it. For decades, US programs have addressed these lasting legacies. These efforts not only save lives and support vulnerable communities, but they also bolster years of diplomatic progress in a region of immense strategic importance. Foreign aid is not charity—it is a strategic investment for our country. US assistance in Southeast Asia consistently garners bipartisan support precisely because it yields clear, tangible benefits: enhanced safety, economic stability, and strengthened bilateral cooperation.
Instead of tearing families apart here at home, the United States must commit to fully funding the removal of unexploded ordnance in Laos until the job is done. I urge members of Congress to join the UXO and Demining Caucus and support legislation like the Southeast Asian Deportation Relief Act. We must end this cycle of displacement and keep our communities whole.
The United States was forged by those seeking a better life. This enduring legacy is embodied by the Statue of Liberty, our “Mother of Exiles,” who stands as a beacon of hope for people escaping persecution and war.
World Refugee Day was first celebrated 25 years ago. This year’s theme, “solidarity with refugees,” calls on us to recognize that true compassion does not end at the border. It means standing by refugees as they build their lives, acknowledging the full weight of our shared past, and ensuring that no one who seeks refuge from danger is ever forced back into harm’s way.
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Chris Phommasathit
Chris Phommasathit is a board member at Legacies of War and a refugee from Laos.
More than 18 months after Mozambique's disputed October 2024 election, civil society groups accuse security forces of carrying out abductions and killings. Rights defenders say the National Criminal Investigation Service, known as Sernic, has played a central role in the repression. © Baptiste Condominas/RFI
