Farewell message by Filippo Grandi : Shared by Kul Gautam

A very thoughtful, humane, and principled farewell message by the retiring UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. 

Kul

I've Been the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees for a Decade. This Is the Crisis I See.

Author: Filippo Grandi

Publication: The New York Times

Date: December 25, 2025

Click here for the article

Summary:

Outgoing UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi reflects on his decade-long tenure, which began in January 2016 during Syria's civil war. 

He observes that over one million Syrians have returned home since Assad's ouster in December 2024, demonstrating that refugee numbers decline when conflicts end, not through restrictive border policies. 

Grandi warns of a global crisis characterized by rising anti-refugee sentiment, populist rhetoric, and governments implementing harsh deterrence measures rather than addressing root causes. 

He notes that over 70 percent of refugees live in middle- and low-income countries, with relatively few reaching wealthier nations. 

Grandi advocates for greater investment in asylum systems, substantial support for refugee-hosting countries, and integration of humanitarian aid with development and peacemaking efforts. 

He defends the 1951 Refugee Convention as flexible and applicable to current challenges, arguing that existing tools to help the world's 117 million forcibly displaced people require cooperation, trust, and investment in peace rather than war.

Quotes:

"Syrian refugee numbers fell not because of draconian border policies, patrols on land or at sea, or xenophobic rhetoric. They fell because the fighting finally stopped."

"As I prepare to step down after a decade as high commissioner for refugees, I see not only conflicts and emergencies affecting every region of the world, but also a crisis of global leadership, a failure of imagination and ambition, and a proliferation of populist rhetoric that is numbing us to the plight of others."

"More than 70 percent of refugees live in middle- and low-income countries, including some of the world's poorest nations. Relatively few move toward wealthier countries, and then only when there is no alternative where they are — no work, no school, no hope."

"This approach — where humanitarian aid meets development meets peacemaking — is about pragmatic self-interest as much as principle."

"Today, some 117 million people have been forced to flee their homes, either to safer parts of their own country or across an international border. The tools to help them survive, rebuild and eventually return home already exist. But they require time, cooperation, trust and a desire to invest in peace rather than war."