Millions have fled their homes in search of safety. Now, the aid they rely on is at risk

As millions risk losing vital humanitarian assistance, UNHCR’s representative in Qatar warns of a deepening funding crisis and highlights the importance of sustained support from Qatar and other humanitarian partners amid shrinking global contributions. For millions of people forced to flee their homes, escaping conflict is only the beginning. Finding safety, securing legal documents, accessing healthcare, and eventually rebuilding a life often depend on humanitarian assistance that is becoming increasingly difficult to sustain. A deepening funding crisis at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) threatens to leave nearly 8.3 million forcibly displaced and stateless people without direct assistance in 2026, as humanitarian contributions struggle to keep pace with growing needs.Ahmed Mohsen, UNHCR Representative to Qatar, in an exclusive interview with Doha News, warned that funding shortfalls are already affecting essential protection services. He also highlighted the importance of continued support from humanitarian partners, including Qatar.“Protection cannot be rationed: below a certain level, the system does not shrink, it fails,” Mohsen said. “When registration stops, safe houses close, or child protection services disappear, people once again face the violence, exploitation, and abuse they fled,” he told Doha News. Global contributions to UNHCR fell by 24 per cent between 2024 and 2025, dropping from $5.178 billion to $3.932 billion. The agency requires $8.505 billion IN 2026 to support an estimated 131.2 million forcibly displaced and stateless people worldwide. Yet, as of July 31, UNHCR had received just $2.716 billion, leaving a funding gap of nearly $5.8 billion. Behind these figures are families returning to damaged homes, children losing access to protection services, and survivors of violence left without safe spaces. Qatar’s role amid shrinking contributions As humanitarian funding continues to fall short of growing needs, Qatar’s partnership with UNHCR highlights how sustained and flexible contributions can help keep essential operations running.Qatar has been among UNHCR’s leading donors since 2019, with 2023 as an exception. It has contributed approximately $9 million so far in 2026, compared with nearly $23.8 million in 2025, amid regional tensions.Mohsen said Qatar’s support has helped fund responses to displacement crises in Sudan, Syria, and Ukraine, as well as assistance for Rohingya refugees. These operations span Bangladesh, Chad, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, South Sudan, and Ukraine. Beyond the amount contributed, however, Mohsen pointed to the growing importance of flexibility in humanitarian financing.Since 2019, Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) has provided $40 million in flexible, unearmarked funding to UNHCR. In 2025, it also committed $8 million for 2025-2026 to support the agency’s core resources. “Because this funding is multi-year and not tied to one project, we can respond quickly to emergencies, focus on the people most in need and keep some of the assistance going without interruption, including in operations hit hardest by cuts from other donors,” Mohsen told Doha News, highlighting the importance of flexible contributions like QFFD’s.“This kind of support is even more important now.” Unlike funding restricted to a particular country or project, flexible contributions allow UNHCR to direct resources towards the most urgent needs, including operations affected by cuts from other donors. That flexibility is becoming increasingly important as more humanitarian contributions come with restrictions on how they can be spent. As of July 2026, Mohsen said, 51 per cent of contributions received by UNHCR were tightly earmarked, compared with just 19 per cent in 2022. While earmarked funding supports specific humanitarian responses, it limits the agency’s ability to redirect resources when emergencies arise, or existing programmes face sudden shortfalls. For an organisation such as the UNHCR, responding to displacement across multiple continents, that distinction can determine whether essential assistance continues uninterrupted. Returning home is not the end of displacement Among the programmes hardest hit by the funding crisis are those designed to help refugees return home and rebuild their lives. Voluntary return and reintegration activities have received only 29 per cent of the funding required for 2026, leaving thousands of families without the assistance needed to start over. “We give eligible vulnerable returnee families a one-time cash grant to help them restart their lives. But because of funding shortfalls, we cannot reach everyone,” Mohsen told Doha News.“Without more funding, 162,500 vulnerable displaced people and returnees will not receive financial assistance when they first return.”In Afghanistan, where more than a million people have returned or been forced to return from Iran and Pakistan this year, UNHCR’s return grants have fallen from $375 per person to just $170 per household. Reintegration grants have reached only 175 households so far in 2026, compared with 5,300 in 2024. For families returning after years of displacement, the challenges do not end at the border. Many find their homes damaged or destroyed, with limited access to employment, healthcare, and basic services.In Syria, 162,500 vulnerable returnees risk losing initial financial assistance unless more funding arrives, leaving some families unable to repair their homes and at risk of leaving again. “When returnee families cannot establish livelihoods, secure shelter or access basic services, they struggle to survive,” Mohsen emphasised. “This economic and social exclusion may force them to undertake dangerous secondary journeys, exposing them to trafficking and exploitation.”Without adequate shelter, documentation, employment and basic services, returning home may offer little protection against the pressures that could force families to leave once more. A difficult year aheadThe funding crisis is also casting uncertainty over UNHCR’s operations in 2027, with the agency warning that already stretched programmes could face further reductions. Mohsen said the agency’s current funding forecast for next year stands at approximately $2.68 billion, although further donor commitments could improve that outlook. “Current funding levels are not enough to maintain essential protection and assistance,” he said to Doha News. “Without early, predictable and flexible contributions, operations that are already reducing registration, child protection, support for survivors of violence, cash assistance and reintegration programmes will face even harder decisions next year.”For Qatar and other humanitarian partners, the challenges extend beyond responding to immediate emergencies. Sustained assistance can also determine whether displaced families are able to rebuild their lives without falling back to becoming dependent on humanitarian aid again. As resources diminish, the distance between surviving displacement and recovering from it is growing. For millions still waiting for safety, documentation, or the means to return home, the consequences of that gap may last far longer than the funding crisis itself.