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ISLAMABAD:&nbsp;The President of the UN General Assembly, Annalena Baerbock, on Monday called attention to the ongoing human rights crisis in <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/taliban-allow-husbands-to-beat-wives-without-breaking-bones-report" style="color:#0073e6;">Afghanistan</a>, describing the Taliban&rsquo;s policies toward women and girls as a &ldquo;gender apartheid system.&rdquo;&nbsp;Speaking at the opening of the 61st session of the Human Rights Council, Baerbock warned that decades of progress for Afghan women and girls are at risk, with restrictions barring them from work, education, and participation in public life.&nbsp;&ldquo;Women&rsquo;s rights are the benchmark for the state of a society,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;If women, meaning half of the world population, are not safe, no one will be safe.&rdquo; She criticized any appeasement of such violations and urged member states to uphold humanitarian principles while holding the Afghan authorities accountable. Baerbock said she remains troubled by ongoing debates within the UN and the broader international community over how to deliver humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan while women and girls are effectively excluded from public life. She questioned how aid mechanisms can function when half the population is barred from participating in society. She also criticized attempts to draw distinctions between different factions of the <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/annual-report-details-killings-abuse-of-women-under-taliban-rule" style="color:#0073e6;">Taliban</a>. Some policymakers have suggested that leaders based in Kabul may be more moderate than those in Kandahar, but Baerbock warned against such reasoning.&nbsp; In discussions taking place in global capitals and within UN institutions, she said, the core principle of defending <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/un-security-council-extends-afghanistan-sanctions-monitoring-mandate" style="color:#0073e6;">human rights</a>, particularly those of Afghan women, has too often been sidelined. &ldquo;Appeasement in the face of grave human rights violations will not yield results,&rdquo; she cautioned. Elected in June 2025 to preside over the 80th session of the General Assembly, Baerbock stressed that women&rsquo;s rights serve as a benchmark for the condition of societies worldwide. With women comprising half of the global population, she said, global security and stability cannot be achieved if four billion people are denied safety and equality. Beyond Afghanistan, Baerbock warned of a wider rollback of women&rsquo;s rights globally. Norms and protections once considered firmly established, she said, are increasingly being challenged or eroded. Calling for decisive international action, Baerbock urged governments to defend universal human rights standards. She has previously advocated for the European Union to impose sanctions on the Taliban, citing what she describes as systematic gender persecution in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan

Speaking during the council’s 61st session, the former German foreign minister characterized the treatment of Afghan women and girls as the most severe form of structural human rights violation.

UNGA president highlights ‘gender apartheid’ in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD: Global forced displacement is projected to reach a record 139.3 million people by the end of 2025 across 136 countries, despite a brief mid-year decline, as severe funding cuts threaten humanitarian response and aid agencies warn donor fatigue has become the biggest crisis facing refugees worldwide. UNHCR forecasts that 139.3 million people will be forcibly displaced by year-end, up from 123.2 million at the end of 2024. Mid-year figures showed 117.3 million displaced, a temporary dip of 5.9 million that masked the worsening crisis. Sudan became the world&#39;s largest displacement crisis with 14.3 million refugees and internally displaced people, replacing Syria at 13.5 million, followed by Afghanistan with 10.3 million and Ukraine with 8.8 million. The modest decline masks a deepening humanitarian catastrophe. Up to 11.6 million refugees risk losing UNHCR assistance in 2025, representing one-third of those reached last year. UNHCR&#39;s funding requirements for 2025 are $10.6 billion, yet only 23% have been met by mid-year. UNHCR projects ending 2025 with $3.9 billion available, a decrease of $1.3 billion compared to 2024. High Commissioner Filippo Grandi noted the last time UNHCR had less than $4 billion was in 2015, when forcibly displaced people numbered half today&#39;s total. The consequences The funding crisis has forced brutal choices.&nbsp;The UNHCR reduced its global staffing by 30%, eliminated 3,500 permanent positions, terminated hundreds of temporary roles, and downsized or closed offices worldwide. In South Sudan, 75% of safe spaces for women and girls supported by UNHCR closed, leaving 80,000 refugee women and girls without access to medical care or psychosocial support. In Afghanistan, protection services primarily for women and girls were cut by more than half, while in Lebanon, over 83,000 refugees lost shelter assistance, according to UNHCR. In Uganda, malnutrition rates are soaring in reception centers with limited clean water and food. Education for 230,000 Rohingya refugee children in Bangladesh risks suspension, while UNHCR&#39;s entire health programme in Lebanon may shut down by year-end. Nine of the top 20 humanitarian donors announced Official Development Assistance (ODA) cuts by mid-2025, including three of the four largest donors. Germany&#39;s draft 2025 budget proposed a 53% reduction in humanitarian assistance, while the UK government plans to cut foreign assistance from 0.5% to 0.3% of Gross National Income (GNI) by 2027. UN aid coordination took in $15 billion in 2025 funding, the lowest level in a decade, reaching 25 million fewer people than in 2024. The climate crisis The decrease in displacement figures stems largely from Syrian returns. Nearly one million internally displaced Syrians returned between January and June 2025, reducing Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) by 13% to 6.5 million, while at least 526,100 Syrians returned from abroad. However, many returns happened under adverse conditions. A UNHCR report released on Nov. 10 revealed a troubling &quot;climate trap&quot;: 75% of displaced people are living in countries with high-to-extreme climate exposure. In early 2025, about 1.2 million refugees tried to return home, but half returned to climate-vulnerable drought and flood zones, risking secondary displacement. The report warns that by 2050, the world&#39;s 15 hottest refugee camps, mainly in the Sahel, will experience 200 days of dangerous heat per year, effectively making them uninhabitable. It remains unclear how sustainable current returns will be as active conflict has abated, but insecurity persists, and basic services remain inadequate. Low and middle-income countries host 73% of the world&#39;s refugees, with 67% staying in neighboring countries and 60% never leaving their own country. Looking ahead to 2026, donors pledged $1.161 billion to UNHCR, slightly above last year&#39;s all-time high and covering almost 18% of projected needs. Yet the percentage of unrestricted funding dropped to 17%, nearly half of what it was in 2023, limiting UNHCR&#39;s capacity to allocate resources where needs are greatest. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said disease outbreaks spiked, millions went without essential food and healthcare, and programmes protecting women and girls were slashed as hundreds of aid organizations shut. Grandi warned that whether the decline in displacement continues or reverses depends largely on achieving peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, and Ukraine, preventing deterioration in South Sudan, improving return conditions in Afghanistan and Syria, and securing adequate funding to address displacement crises globally.

Photo from the Global Appeal 2025 report (UNHCR)

Asia

Europe

Americas

UNHCR warns global forced displacement will reach a record 139.3 million by the end of 2025, as conflicts, climate risks, and severe funding cuts deepen humanitarian crises, leaving millions of refugees without protection, aid, and basic services worldwide.

Forced displacement to reach 139M by end-2025, warns UNHCR

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Sunday dismissed criticism from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights over the country&rsquo;s newly passed 27th constitutional amendment, calling the concerns &ldquo;ungrounded&rdquo; and &ldquo;misplaced.&rdquo; In a statement, the Foreign Office said the amendment was approved by a two-third majority in parliament and reflected the workings of a democratic system. It said constitutional changes and all legislation were the responsibility of Pakistan&rsquo;s elected representatives. The ministry said democratic norms underpin civil and political rights in the country, adding that the amendment followed procedures set out in the Constitution. It reiterated Pakistan&rsquo;s commitment to human dignity, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law. However, the Foreign Office said it was &ldquo;regrettable&rdquo; that Pakistan&rsquo;s perspective and on-ground context were not reflected in the UN rights body&rsquo;s statement. It called on the High Commissioner to respect parliament&rsquo;s sovereign decisions and avoid comments that, in its view, show political bias. BackgroundThe rebuttal comes days after UN human rights chief Volker T&uuml;rk on Friday voiced concern that Pakistan&rsquo;s latest constitutional changes could erode judicial independence and weaken accountability. He said the amendment, adopted on November 13, was passed without broad consultation, mirroring the process behind last year&rsquo;s 26th Amendment. T&uuml;rk warned that the creation of a new Federal Constitutional Court, which takes over constitutional cases from the Supreme Court, could centralise power within the executive. He also pointed to changes in the appointment and promotion of judges, saying the new system may leave the judiciary vulnerable to political influence. President Asif Ali Zardari signed the amendment earlier this month after it cleared both houses of parliament amid opposition protests, making it part of the Constitution.

Foreign Affairs

 FO says the amendment was approved by a two-third majority in parliament and reflected the workings of a democratic system.

Pakistan rejects UN rights chief’s concerns over new constitutional amendments

ISLAMABAD: More than a million Syrians have returned home over the past year, but millions remain displaced within the country, according to a new United Nations report. Over 1.2 million Syrians crossed back into Syria from abroad since December 8, 2024, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reported. Most returnees came from Turkey, followed by Lebanon and Jordan, with smaller numbers arriving from Iraq, Egypt and beyond the region. While more than 1.9 million internally displaced people have returned to their home areas or intended destinations within the country, including over one million who left camps and collective sites in the north, around seven million people remain displaced inside the country. UNHCR data show that return movements are taking place across multiple governorates, including Aleppo, Homs, Damascus and Hama. Meanwhile internal returns are concentrated in northern Syria. The report said the figures reflect continuing population shifts more than a decade after the start of the conflict. The number of people returning from neighboring countries is also continually rising. Turkey&rsquo;s interior minister reported that 550,000 Syrians have returned since December 2024, bringing total voluntary returns from Turkey to 1.29 million since 2016. From Lebanon, an estimated 362,027 Syrians have gone back, and from Jordan, about 167,000 refugees registered with UNHCR have returned since December 2024. Smaller numbers have also returned from Iraq and Egypt. The report said the total number of Syrians who have returned either from abroad or from internal displacement since December 2024 exceeds three million, even as millions remain uprooted throughout the country.

Middle East

More than a million Syrians have returned home since late 2024, while about seven million remain displaced inside the country, according to a new UNHCR report.

Articles tagged with "UNHCR"

UNGA president highlights ‘gender apartheid’ in Afghanistan

Forced displacement to reach 139M by end-2025, warns UNHCR

Pakistan rejects UN rights chief’s concerns over new constitutional amendments

Syria: Millions return home but millions still displaced