28.04.2025 Statement by Denmark at the Briefing from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
Checked Against Delivery
Thank you, Mr. President,
I would like to begin by thanking High Commissioner Grandi for the outstanding leadership demonstrated throughout your tenure. Denmark expresses its full support to UNHCR and deep admiration for all those who work tirelessly to assist the world’s refugees and forcibly displaced people.
Mr. President,
We are at an extraordinary juncture. As we heard from the High Commissioner today, a staggering 123 million people have been forcibly displaced worldwide. Women and girls, continue to suffer most.
This displacement crisis has many drivers. Most significantly, the proliferation and protractedness of crises, combined with a widespread disregard for the letter and spirit of international humanitarian law.
The impact of climate shocks also continues to grow. This presents a new challenge for humanitarian action and solidarity in the 21st century.
From Myanmar to Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and South Sudan, we have witnessed violence, attacks on civilians, and critical civilian infrastructure, creating staggering levels of displacement.
Mr. President,
In Sudan, the world’s largest displacement crisis, more than a third of the population have been forced to flee their homes and over 60 per cent of the population requires emergency humanitarian assistance.
In Ukraine, attacks on civilian infrastructure, the contamination of agricultural land, and repeated strikes on populated areas, have produced the largest refugee and displacement crisis in Europe since the Second World War; with almost 7 million people fleeing across borders and another 3.7 million internally displaced.
And in Gaza, an entire population, predominately made up of refugees, is being denied humanitarian aid. The healthcare system has collapsed. UNRWA has been criminalized. Humanitarianism itself has become a target.
With these deeply disturbing examples in mind, allow me to make three points:
First, the United Nations and its humanitarian partners must always be allowed to support these most vulnerable populations.
In complex humanitarian emergency settings, it must have safe and unhindered access to those in need. This is the essential precondition for any meaningful response. It is also an obligation on all parties to conflict.
In this regard, the Council—and all UN Member States—must unequivocally reject the deliberate use of bureaucratic and administrative obstructions to deny this access.
Whether imposed by states or non-state actors, from Gaza to Ukraine and Sudan, these tactics cannot be tolerated. In extreme cases, Denmark believes this Council has a duty to use the tools at its disposal to overcome such barriers.
Second, I am proud to say that Denmark is currently the 4th largest donor to UNHCR and an important donor to the broader humanitarian system.
However, and as expressed by the UN’s Emergency Relief Coordinator, the Humanitarian system is being reset. UNHCR itself is undergoing dramatic organizational adjustments that will impact its core capacities and operational outreach.
Throughout this period of change, we must collectively support UNHCR in preserving its ability to uphold core aspects of its mandate; through focusing even more on protection, durable solutions and emergency response.
In the coming years, we will need to increase our support not only to forcibly displaced persons, but also to the host states and communities that shelter them. Put simply, we will need to do more with less, and we need to reach beyond traditional humanitarian approaches when doing so.
Such approaches, however, must be done in a way that upholds the core humanitarian principles of independence, impartiality, neutrality and humanity. Equally, it must not compromise the ethics which underpin humanitarian action and solidarity.
Finally, if we are to avoid a world defined by chaos, this Council must address not only humanitarian symptoms of current crises, but the underlying political drivers. ‘Take risks’, as the High Commissioner advocated this morning.
The Council should remain focused on finding political solutions to conflicts whilst ensuring that principled humanitarian action remains safeguarded and enabled. Humanitarian obligations must not be made conditional or subject to political negotiations.
Mr. President,
To conclude, Denmark reaffirms its unwavering support for UNHCR and the Global Refugee Compact.
This Agency represents multilateralism at its best: a shared commitment to solidarity with people who have been cruelly uprooted and dispossessed. You can continue to rely on Denmark to play its part.
I Thank you.