UNHCR halts refugee registration in Ethiopia over budget shortfall
The agency says it has received only 35% of the 8.5 billion dollars it needs.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has said a severe funding shortfall has forced it to stop registering thousands of refugees arriving in Ethiopia from Eritrea and South Sudan.
The news emerged at a meeting of UNHCR's executive committee in Geneva on Monday, 12 October 2026.
The agency said that of the 8.5 billion dollars it requires for 2026 it has so far received only 35%, or 3 billion dollars, leaving a gap of about 5.5 billion dollars.
Because of the financial crisis the organisation has cut its workforce from 20,000 in 2024 to under 12,000.
The suspension of registration will make it far harder for newly arriving refugees to obtain identity documents, legal asylum and humanitarian assistance.
