Generous Aid to Ukraine is Diverting Resources Away from Other Refugee Crises Around the World
Nearly 10 months since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the ongoing war has produced over .
An additional Ukrainians have lost their homes and are with acute shortages of food, water, shelter and other basic needs.
Though the delivery of humanitarian assistance has suffered as a result of Russian airstrikes and , the international response to the Ukraine crisis has been remarkable.
Since January 2022, the U.S. government, for instance, has committed more than US$18.2 billion in , with approximately $17.6 billion dedicated to train and equip Ukrainian armed forces.
The humanitarian response 鈥 including policies to absorb Ukrainian refugees and provision of emergency relief 鈥 has also been remarkable. The global pledging campaign raised $8.9 billion.
U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric : 鈥淭his is among the fastest and most generous responses a humanitarian flash appeal has ever received.鈥
A protracted refugee crisis in Bangladesh
The international attention focused on Ukraine comes at a time when other humanitarian crises around the world are receiving less attention and assistance than they need.
As , I spent the summer of 2022 researching the changes in Bangladesh鈥檚 policies toward that is largely Muslim.
Since 2017, in what was recognized as the since the 1994 Rwandan genocide, more than 773,000 Rohingya crossed the border to neighboring Bangladesh to flee the Myanmar government鈥檚 against them.
Over 1 million Rohingya are currently living in the world鈥檚 largest refugee camp in Bangladesh, where there are issues with overcrowding, and .
My interviews with national and international NGOs and camp administrators revealed growing anxiety about the ongoing financial and social pressures on Bangladesh as a result of serving as one of the world鈥檚 largest refugee hosts.
They also revealed concerns about the possibility that the Ukraine crisis is from the protracted Rohingya situation.
Despite the fact that housing the over 1 million Rohingya in Bangladesh costs per year, the Rohingya crisis has never received enough financial assistance. Instead, the amount of assistance has been decreasing over time.
In 2020, donors contributed only , down from around 72% to 75% two years earlier.
In 2022, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees reduced its funding expectations for the Rohingya in Bangladesh. The sought approximately to support the refugees. To date, Bangladesh has received , or about $290 million.
鈥淚t is difficult to get the world鈥檚 attention to 鈥 those places where children are suffering in the same way that the children of Ukraine are suffering,鈥 said Gregory Ramm, in April 2022.
鈥楢id void鈥
Funding for other protracted crises in 2022 seems to coincide with overwhelming political interest in, and donor pledges for, Ukraine.
For instance, while the 2021 Afghanistan Humanitarian Response Plan was very well funded, at , so far this year it has received only of its funding appeal.
At the 2022 international donor conference on Yemen 鈥 a country of 23.4 million people in dire crisis with war and famine 鈥 the United Nations appealed for $4.3 billion for humanitarian aid. World leaders offered of that.
This so-called 鈥渁id void鈥 is also increasing in , and .
The had explicitly stated that the European Commission from other crises around the world as it responds to the conflict in Ukraine. Other EU ministers made .
But individual EU member states have already begun diverting funds, as real-time aid data shows. For instance, have announced cuts to other aid priorities that equate to of their respective 2021 aid budgets. Sweden has already reallocated 鈥 where millions face poverty following its severe since March 2022 鈥 to Ukraine. Denmark announced that it would defer development aid it had to fund the reception of fleeing Ukrainians.
The U.K. has recently that it will halt all 鈥渘onessential鈥 aid spending. It is estimated this may result in with further in addition to those already implemented since 2020. Germany has shown a similar trend.
Excluding the generous support for Ukraine, the U.S. has also cut its humanitarian budget by .
International assistance crisis
Even before the current Ukraine crisis, a gap between global humanitarian needs and requisite funding to address them was growing.
In West Bank and Gaza, critical programs had already been and food rations had been in Yemen.
The COVID-19 pandemic compounded preexisting humanitarian crises and increased funding needs. Yet, in its humanitarian appeal for 2021, the U.N. received of the funding it requested.
This funding shortfall is even more stark given that the number of people without food, clean water, housing and medical care has passed 300 million, according to the . The number is 90 million more than before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Humanitarian that the the overwhelming attention on Ukraine is diverting resources 鈥 both financial and human 鈥 from other crises that are already facing unprecedented funding shortages.
The war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia have also fueled a and a spike in and prices. These spikes are already emergency aid delivery and food scarcity in several conflict-affected contexts, as well as major refugee-hosting countries like Bangladesh.
As the attention to and support for Ukraine continues, the impact of the war together with other crises 鈥 economic, political and environmental 鈥 in places like the Horn of Africa continues to have on the lives of civilians.
The , 鈥淭he war in Ukraine has highlighted the immense gap between what is possible when the international community rallies behind a crisis, and the daily reality for the millions of people suffering far from the spotlight.鈥
, Senior Professorial Lecturer of Global Governance, Politics and Security,
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