COPENHAGEN: Cuts to global aid budgets spearheaded by the United States could nearly double the number of people forced to flee their homes this year, the Danish Refugee Council warned Tuesday.
US President Donald Trump has cut 83 percent of funding for overseas programmes run by development agency USAID, with France, Germany and Britain also slashing their aid commitments.
The Danish NGO warned that development programmes directly targeted the issues that force people to flee their homes — conflict, rights violations, the effects of climate change, and economic crises.
“When funding is suddenly cut, lifelines are cut: The vital services that protect vulnerable communities from violence, hunger, and displacement abruptly disappear, leading to tragic consequences,“ the group’s Secretary General Charlotte Slente said in a statement.
If US funding is fully withdrawn and other donors also decrease aid, the council said, it could lead to a “staggering” 7.85 million people being displaced this year.
The council’s projections suggested 3.95 million people would be expected to flee their homes if funding was fully maintained.
In a scenario where 50 percent of US aid is cut, the NGO projected a total of 5.75 million would be newly displaced.
At the end of April, 122.1 million people were living away from their homes because of war, violence or persecution, according to a report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
