UN Refugee Chief Warns EU: Budget Cuts Driving Migration Surge

The UN’s top refugee official, Filippo Grandi, warned that “catastrophic” donor-driven budget cuts to his agency are already fueling increased migration to Europe and urged EU governments to fund existing asylum systems in countries like Chad, Iran, and Kenya rather than creating new ones, according to the Financial Times this week. 

“There is no doubt in my mind that people are already moving from Chad to Libya — Sudanese refugees,” Grandi told the Financial Times, pointing to evidence of displaced Sudanese heading north due to collapsing support in Chad and Sudan. “Give more assistance to states where people are ready to stay before going back home. You solve a lot of your problems by doing that.”

FT writes that UNHCR’s budget has plummeted—from $2bn to $390mn in U.S. funding under Donald Trump, with cuts from EU nations like France and Germany as well—forcing the agency to lay off a third of its staff and pause $1.4bn in programs.

While many EU states, including Denmark and Italy, push to outsource asylum processing to non-EU countries, Grandi criticized schemes that “dump” Europe’s asylum responsibilities on others. Of such efforts, he said, “If it is dumping the responsibilities… then I think it would be a bit more problematic.”

He stressed the need for safeguards and agency coordination: “Consult with us when you are elaborating. There are windows of opportunity to do some of these innovative things.”

Grandi also voiced concern over the EU’s cooperation with Libya and Tunisia, where conditions for refugees are dire. Libya is “not a country where we could have such an arrangement,” and in Tunisia, UNHCR is no longer allowed to screen asylum seekers amid migrant pushbacks and government crackdowns.

Recall last week we wrote that Spain had now passed Germany and topped the EU in asylum requests as migrant patterns continue to shift globally. According to an unpublished EU Agency for Asylum (EUAA) report seen by the Financial Times, the bloc’s asylum system is undergoing a “significant shift,” with May 2025 seeing 64,000 applications — nearly 25% fewer than the same month in 2024. 

The drop was driven by an “extremely abrupt” fall in Syrian claims, from about 16,000 in October 2024 to just 3,100 in May.

“Since February Germany has no longer been the top EU+ destination; Spain, Italy and France all received more applications in May 2025,” the EUAA writes.