UN appoints former Iraqi president as High Commissioner for refugees

Barham Salih, the former Iraqi president who fled persecution under Saddam Hussein, has been appointed the next UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), marking a significant departure from the tradition of selecting leaders primarily from major European donor states.

A letter from UN Secretary-General António Guterres, dated December 11, confirmed Salih’s five-year term beginning January 1, pending final approval from the UNHCR Executive Committee. He will succeed Italy’s Filippo Grandi, who has headed the agency since 2016. A UNHCR spokesperson declined to comment, while a UN spokesperson noted that the appointment process is still under way, Reuters reports.

Salih, who studied engineering in Britain after escaping Saddam Hussein’s rule, served as Iraq’s president from 2018 to 2022. He assumes leadership at a time when global displacement has reached unprecedented levels—roughly double what it was when Grandi took office—while the agency’s funding continues to contract. Key donors, including the United States under President Donald Trump, have reduced contributions, and others have redirected funding toward defence priorities.

Hailing from Iraq’s Kurdish region, Salih has pledged to ensure refugees are not left “trapped in cycles of dependency” and are instead provided access to education and employment opportunities. “I believe deeply in UNHCR’s mission — because I have lived it,” he said during the campaign. “My vision is a UNHCR that places refugees at the centre, recognising that humanitarian aid is meant to be temporary.”

The Geneva-based agency, which depends largely on voluntary contributions, has already trimmed its projected 2026 budget by nearly one-fifth to $8.5 billion and is preparing to cut close to 5,000 jobs, even as conflicts in Sudan and Ukraine intensify global needs. According to UNHCR, these financial constraints are forcing increasingly difficult decisions about whom to assist and are heightening life-threatening risks for displaced populations.

Salih intends to diversify funding by tapping new sources, including Islamic finance, and by engaging private-sector partners through a proposed “Global CEO Humanitarian Council.” He will also confront mounting Western restrictions on asylum amid rising anti-immigration sentiment, alongside growing frustration in lower-income countries hosting large refugee populations.

Around a dozen candidates competed for the role, ranging from politicians to an IKEA executive, an emergency room physician, and a television personality. More than half were European, reflecting the agency’s 75-year tradition—nine of its 11 previous leaders have come from Europe.

By Vafa Guliyeva