UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi warned governments not to reopen the 1951 Refugee Convention or dilute core asylum principles, calling such moves a “catastrophic error.”
Addressing member states at the UNHCR’s annual meeting in Geneva on Monday, he said current political pressures to “reform” asylum were not being made in good faith and amounted to “yet another attack on international solidarity”, reported Reuters.
"Putting the Refugee Convention and the principle of asylum on the table would be a catastrophic error," Grandi said.
US leading asylum reform agenda
His remarks are seen as a response to recent US calls to scale back asylum protections and force migrants to seek asylum in the first country they enter, rather than in a destination of their choice. US officials further argued that asylum should be recast as a temporary status with host countries deciding when return is possible.
The US government is also preparing to set a refugee admissions cap of 7,500 people this fiscal year, a record low figure which Reuters sources say prioritises white South Africans of Afrikaner ethnicity.
Grandi cautioned that tampering with the fundamentals of global refugee and asylum rules, crafted in the aftermath of World War Two, would undermine a system designed to save lives across cultures and regions.
Record displacement driven by conflict
The warning lands amid record global displacement and multiple conflict-driven crises, from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Myanmar to Sudan, Ukraine and Gaza
According to reports, UNHCR itself is under acute financial strain. The agency has cut almost 5,000 jobs this year, more than a quarter of its workforce, and reduced its footprint across 185 offices.
Grandi told states UNHCR expects to end 2025 with about $3.9 billion in funding, roughly 25% below last year, as major donors shift resources, including toward defence spending. He warned that shrinking capacity will affect protection and assistance precisely as policymakers debate limiting access to asylum.
While several governments argue that curbs are needed to deter irregular migration, Grandi urged states to resist efforts that would hollow out the right to seek asylum, emphasizing that the institution remains a life-saving instrument embedded in international law and practice. Any changes, he suggested, should focus on practical cooperation – such as better-managed reception, faster and fairer procedures, and expanded resettlement and legal pathways – rather than rewriting foundational rules.