Changing asylum principles would be 'catastrophic', says UN refugee agency head

6/10/2025 19:01

Bowing to pressure to reform the refugee convention and asylum system would be a "catastrophic error", the head of the UN agency for refugees said on Monday.



The comments by UNHCR head Filippo Grandi form a response to U.S. moves to sharply narrow the right to asylum and reshape the post-World War Two framework around humanitarian migration.



"Putting the Refugee Convention and the principle of asylum on the table would be a catastrophic error," Grandi told member states during an annual UNHCR meeting in Geneva.



"Pressures to reform asylum are not made in good faith, but represent yet another attack on international solidarity, at the time when many countries continue to welcome refugees," he added.



Last month, top U.S. officials urged other nations to join a global campaign to roll back asylum protections, saying migrants should seek asylum in the first country they enter, not a nation of their choosing.