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	Over 122 million forcibly displaced people by UNHCR, IDMC, NRC, agencies   July 2025   Following major cuts to humanitarian budgets, up to 11.6 million refugees and others forced to flee risk losing access this year to direct humanitarian assistance from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, according to a report published today. The figure represents about one-third of those reached by the organization last year.   The report highlights a deadly confluence of factors pummeling millions of refugees and displaced people: rising displacement, shrinking funding and political apathy. And women and children are, as ever, the hardest hit.   Altogether, $1.4 billion of essential programmes are being cut or put on hold, according to the analysis of UNHCR programmes and funds received this year. Millions now face deteriorating living conditions, heightened risks of exploitation and abuse, and may be pushed into further displacement.   Behind these numbers are real lives, hanging in the balance. Families are seeing the support they relied on vanish, forced to choose between feeding their children or buying medicines as hope for a better future slips out of sight. Every sector and operation has been hit, and critical support is being suspended to keep life-saving aid going.   Cuts have forced UNHCR to pause the movement of new arrivals from border areas to safer locations in places like Chad and South Sudan, leaving thousands stranded in remote locations. In Uganda, malnutrition rates are soaring in some reception centres, with limited access to clean water and food.   Health and education services are being scaled back, with schools closing and clinics understaffed. In camps hosting Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, education for some 230,000 children is at risk of being suspended. UNHCR’s entire health programme in Lebanon is at risk of being shuttered by the end of the year.   Financial aid and the delivery of emergency relief items have been cut by 60 per cent globally and shelter programmes have been critically diminished. In places like Niger, cuts in financial aid for shelter have left families in overcrowded structures or at risk of homelessness. Financial aid in Ukraine and across the region has also been slashed, leaving uprooted families unable to afford rent, food or medical treatment.   Child protection as well as prevention of and responses to gender-based violence have been hard hit. In South Sudan, 75 per cent of safe spaces for women and girls supported by UNHCR have closed, leaving up to 80,000 refugee women and girls, including survivors of sexual violence, without access to medical care, psychosocial support, legal aid, material support or income-generating activities.   Cuts are also, worryingly, impacting resettlement and the safe and voluntary return of refugees. Around 1.9 million Afghans have returned home or been forced back since the start of the year, but financial aid for returnees is barely enough to afford food, let alone rent, undermining efforts to ensure stable reintegration.   In several operations, severe funding gaps have curtailed investments in strengthening asylum systems and promoting regularization efforts. In countries like Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, and Mexico, a lack of legal status means prolonged insecurity, deepening poverty as refugees are excluded from formal employment, and greater exposure to exploitation and abuse. These cuts are undermining efforts made to find long-term solutions. Incentives for refugee volunteers have also been severely impacted, threatening vital services and cutting a regular source of income for those refugees.   UNHCR funding requirements for 2025 are $10.6 billion. At the midpoint of the year, only 23 per cent had been met. Against this backdrop, our teams are focusing efforts on saving lives and protecting those forced to flee. Should additional funding become available, UNHCR has the systems, partnerships and expertise to rapidly resume and scale up assistance.   UNHCR is grateful to donors who have continued their support during these difficult moments and urges governments, institutions and individuals to significantly boost their financial contributions to bridge the current funding gap.   http://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing-notes/unhcr-funding-cuts-bite-some-11m-people-are-losing-aid http://www.unhcr.org/media/brink-devastating-toll-aid-cuts-people-forced-flee   20 June 2025   World Refugee Day, by Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees:   "Today is World Refugee Day – a day to honour the courage and resilience of millions of people around the globe forced to flee war, violence and persecution. But it is also a moment to sound an alarm on their behalf.   Record numbers of men, women and children – over 122 million people worldwide – have been uprooted from their homes, but their ability to find safety and support is threatened as never before.   The abject failure to end conflicts – from Sudan to Ukraine, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Gaza – continues to create untold human suffering. Yet the innocent people who run for their lives as the bullets fly and the missiles rain down are unjustly stigmatized, making it harder to escape danger and to find somewhere to recover and rebuild.   To make a desperate position worse, brutal cuts to humanitarian aid are choking off assistance, threatening the lives of millions of people who desperately need help.   At this critical juncture, it is vital that we reaffirm our solidarity with refugees – not just with words but with urgent action. Thankfully, there is no shortage of examples to inspire us: the countries on the edges of war zones that continue to welcome and host refugees; the local communities that open their homes, workplaces and hearts to displaced people; and the countless individual acts of kindness and compassion that reveal our common humanity.   In many cases, this support can be found among people with few resources to share, and in places facing major economic challenges. From wealthier states to development banks to businesses and many others, we can and must support these countries and communities by sharing the responsibility for protecting refugees. Such acts of solidarity would enable this generosity to continue.   Even in these turbulent times, there are moments of profound hope. This World Refugee Day, I am in Syria where, after 14 years of crisis and despair, two million people have already chosen to return to their homes and communities since the fall of the Assad regime last December. In a region that has suffered so much violence – and suffers even now – we are nonetheless presented with an opportunity to help Syrians achieve stability and prosperity. We must not let it pass by.   Today, I met Syrian families who have returned after more than a decade as refugees. Their deep joy at being among familiar faces and surroundings – despite the many challenges – is a poignant reminder of the yearning refugees feel for home.   Such moments are only made possible through solidarity: the solidarity shown by countries neighbouring Syria that provide a haven for people until they feel it is safe to return; the solidarity shown by Syrian communities who are welcoming their compatriots back after a long and painful absence; and the solidarity shown by my UNHCR colleagues and their local and international partners, who are here to support returning families and will remain by their side as they rebuild their homes and lives.   Now more than ever, we must stand with refugees to keep alive their hopes of a better future. This World Refugee Day and every day, governments, institutions, companies and individuals can prove that by helping those caught up in senseless conflicts, we move towards greater stability, humanity and justice for us all. If we do so, I can promise you that refugees will bring all their courage, spirit and ingenuity to the task of creating a better, brighter tomorrow."   June 2025   According to UNHCR’s annual Global Trends Report released today, there were 122.1 million forcibly displaced people by the end of April 2025, up from 120 million at the same time last year, representing around a decade of year-on-year increases in the number of refugees and others forced to flee their homes.   The main drivers of displacement remain large conflicts like Sudan, Myanmar and Ukraine, and the continued failure to stop the fighting.   Whether this trend continues or reverses during the rest of 2025 will largely depend on whether peace or at least a cessation in fighting is possible to achieve, particularly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan and Ukraine; whether the situation in South Sudan does not deteriorate further; whether conditions for return improve, in particular in Afghanistan and Syria; and how dire the impact of the current funding cuts will be on the capacity to address forced displacement situations around the world and create conducive conditions for a safe and dignified return.   Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said: “We are living in a time of intense volatility in international relations, with modern warfare creating a fragile, harrowing landscape marked by acute human suffering. We must redouble our efforts to search for peace and find long-lasting solutions for refugees and others forced to flee their homes.”   Forcibly displaced people include people displaced within their own country by conflict, which grew sharply by 6.3 million to 73.5 million at the end of 2024, and refugees fleeing their countries (42.7 million people).   Sudan became the world’s largest forced displacement situation with 14.3 million refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs), replacing Syria (13.5 million), and followed by Afghanistan (10.3 million) and Ukraine (8.8 million).   The report found that, contrary to widespread perceptions in wealthier regions, 67 per cent of refugees stay in neighbouring countries, with low and middle-income countries hosting 73 per cent of the world’s refugees. Indeed, 60 per cent of people forced to flee never leave their own country.   While the number of forcibly displaced people has almost doubled in the last decade, funding for UNHCR now stands at roughly the same level as in 2015 amid brutal and ongoing cuts to humanitarian aid. This situation is untenable, leaving refugees and others fleeing danger even more vulnerable.   UNHCR and the broader humanitarian community are facing detrimental funding cuts, that will severely impact millions of people globally.   Without sufficient funding, there will not be enough food assistance and basic shelter support for displaced people. Protection services, including safe spaces for refugee women and girls at risk of violence, are likely to be terminated. Communities that have generously hosted forcibly displaced people for years will be left without the support they need.   For the number of forcibly displaced people to reduce, meaningful progress is required on the root causes – conflict, disregard for the basic tenets of International Humanitarian Law, other forms of violence and persecution.   In the meantime, resources to meet urgent humanitarian needs, to support host countries, to protect people from the risks of dangerous onward movements and to help refugees and other forcibly displaced people find durable solutions are more essential than ever. The consequences of inaction will be borne by those who can least afford it.   http://www.unhcr.org/news/press-releases/number-people-uprooted-war-shocking-decade-high-levels-unhcr http://www.unhcr.org/global-trends http://www.nrc.no/feature/2025/a-global-displacement-crisis-as-the-world-abandons-aid http://www.unhcr.org/news/speeches-and-statements/statement-un-high-commissioner-refugees-filippo-grandi-security http://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing-notes/unhcr-funding-crunch-increases-risks-violence-danger-and-death-refugees http://www.wfp.org/news/refugees-escaping-sudan-face-escalating-hunger-and-malnutrition-food-aid-risks-major http://www.wfp.org/news/refugees-kenya-risk-worsening-hunger-wfp-faces-critical-funding-shortfall http://refugees.org/uscri-calls-for-immediate-action-as-refugees-face-man-made-starvation-crisis-in-kenya/ http://www.wvi.org/publication/world-refugee-day/report-ration-cuts-2025   May 2025   The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) reached 83.4 million at the end of 2024, the highest figure ever recorded, according to the Global Report on Internal Displacement 2025 published today by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). This is equivalent to the population of Germany, and more than double the number from just six years ago.   “Internal displacement is where conflict, poverty and climate collide, hitting the most vulnerable the hardest,” said Alexandra Bilak, IDMC director. “These latest numbers prove that internal displacement is not just a humanitarian crisis; it’s a clear development and political challenge that requires far more attention than it currently receives.”   Nearly 90 per cent of IDPs, or 73.5 million people, were displaced by conflict and violence, an increase of 80 per cent in six years.   Ten countries had over 3 million IDPs from conflict and violence at the end of 2024, double the number from four years ago. Sudan alone hosted a record-breaking 11.6 million IDPs, the most ever recorded in a single country.   An additional 9.8 million people were living in internal displacement at the end of the year after being forced to flee by disasters, a 29 per cent increase over the previous year and more than double the number from just five years ago. Afghanistan (1.3 million) and Chad (1.2 million) together accounted for nearly a quarter of the total.   “Internal displacement rarely makes the headlines, but for those living it, the suffering can last for years. This year’s figures must act as a wake-up call for global solidarity. For how much longer will the number of people affected by internal displacement be allowed to grow and grow, as a result of a lack of ownership and leadership?” said Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council.   “Every time humanitarian funding gets cut, another displaced person loses access to food, medicine, safety and hope. Over the past year, I’ve met with internally displaced families in DR Congo, in Palestine, and in Sudan, and listened to them speak about the devastating impact of displacement on their lives and their hopes for the future. The lack of progress is both a policy failure and a moral stain on humanity. Now is the time for governments to show political will and financial investments for lasting solutions to displacement.”   In many situations, people had to flee multiple times throughout the year as areas of conflict shifted, increasing their vulnerabilities and impeding their efforts to rebuild their lives.   Together, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Palestine and Sudan reported 12.3 million internal displacements, or forced movements of people, in 2024, nearly 60 per cent of the global total for conflict displacements.   Disasters triggered 45.8 million internal displacements in 2024, the highest annual figure since IDMC began monitoring disaster displacements in 2008 and more than double the annual average of the past decade.   The United States (US) alone accounted for nearly a quarter of global disaster displacement and was one of 29 countries and territories to record their highest figures on record.   Weather-related events, many intensified by climate change, triggered 99.5 per cent of disaster displacements during the year. Cyclones, such as hurricanes Helene and Milton that struck the US, and typhoon Yagi that struck numerous countries in East Asia, triggered 54 per cent of movements linked to disasters. Floods triggered another 42 per cent, with major events on every continent, from Chad to Brazil, Afghanistan to the Philippines and across Europe.   Many disaster displacements were pre-emptive evacuations that saved lives in the US, the Philippines, Bangladesh and elsewhere, showing that displacement can be a positive coping mechanism in disaster-prone countries. Of the 163 countries and territories reporting disaster displacements last year, 53 reported pre-emptive evacuations, but incomplete data means the true number is likely higher. Available evidence shows that without adequate support even pre-emptively evacuated people can remain displaced for prolonged periods.   The number of countries reporting both conflict and disaster displacement has tripled since 2009. More than three-quarters of people internally displaced by conflict and violence as of the end of 2024 were living in countries with high or very high vulnerability to climate change. These overlapping crises erode people’s ability to recover and stretch government resources.   “The cost of inaction is rising, and displaced people are paying the price,” said Bilak. “The data is clear, it’s now time to use it to prevent displacement, support recovery, and build resilience. Resolving displacement requires both immediate efforts to help people who have lost everything and investments to address underlying vulnerabilities, so people don't become displaced in the first place.”   http://www.internal-displacement.org/news/number-of-internally-displaced-people-tops-80-million-for-first-time/   The world’s most neglected displacement crises 2024 (Norwegian Refugee Council)   In 2024, the number of people displaced across the globe surged to double what it was ten years ago. At the same time, humanitarian funding covered just half of the rising needs.   Shifting domestic priorities, economic uncertainty and political fatigue have led to severe cuts in support for people affected by crisis and displacement. The world is in transition. But we must not accept this abandonment as a foregone conclusion. Displacement isn’t a distant crisis; it’s a shared responsibility. We must stand up and demand change.   Each year, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) publishes a report of the ten most neglected displacement crises in the world. The purpose is to focus on the plight of people whose suffering rarely makes international headlines, who receive little or no assistance, and crises that never become the centre of attention for international diplomacy efforts.   On top of chronic underfunding, the countries appearing in our list struggled to gain meaningful media traction. The lack of headlines mirrors a broader failure of political will. While needs escalated, efforts to address the root causes of these crises stalled or were simply abandoned.   Humanitarian access remained heavily restricted in several contexts due to insecurity, bureaucratic barriers, and the absence of diplomatic engagement. Millions of displaced people remain unseen, unsupported, and increasingly unreachable.   Climate change is hitting the most vulnerable the hardest. It is displacing people from their homes, destroying fragile livelihoods, and pushing communities already on the brink into even worse conditions. Prolonged droughts, erratic rainfall and increasingly frequent disasters are not only uprooting lives but also eroding food systems.   Crops are failing while the ground floods, livestock is dying under merciless heat, and access to water is becoming more unpredictable. Food insecurity has become one of the most devastating and immediate consequences of the climate crisis for displaced people.   As the world turns inward and humanitarian budgets shrink, the needs of people who have been displaced are growing louder, not quieter. The systems meant to respond are no longer fit for purpose, and our approach to crisis must evolve too.   In a world reshaping itself politically, economically and environmentally, this is a moment for us all to confront the structural failures driving neglect – to demand accountability and build a response that matches the rapid change.   If we choose to act, to invest, and to stand in solidarity, we can build a future where no-one is left behind. What we do this year will be remembered.   http://www.nrc.no/feature/2025/the-worlds-most-neglected-displacement-crises-in-2024/ http://www.nrc.no/longreads Visit the related web page
	When the rules of war are applied selectively, they lose their protective power by ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric International Committee of the Red Cross   ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric delivered the opening speech at the 7th edition of Tocqueville Conversations in Normandy, France on 27 June 2025.(Extract):   Let me start by saying the ICRC and Europe are entwined. Our mission is grounded in the history of this continent.   Why? Where there is war, there are body bags. There is no situation of war where we don’t bring body bags. And this is something that we must keep in mind when we speak about defence investments.   More than 160 years ago—June 24, 1859—Henri Dunant witnessed the devastating Battle of Solferino. What he saw that day would later inspire the creation of the International Committee of the Red Cross.   Moved by the suffering of wounded soldiers left without care, Dunant proposed a revolutionary idea: a treaty obliging armies to care for the wounded, and the creation of the national Red Cross—and later Red Crescent—societies.   The legacy of Solferino lives on today. It lives in universally adopted agreements on the rules of war. And it lives in the work carried by the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement around the world.   But it was the unprecedented scale of suffering during the Second World War that triggered the revision and expansion of the Geneva Conventions of 1949. What does this tell us?   It tells us that Europe was the birthplace of a unique set of truly universal international treaties. Europe has since strived to be a stronghold for the values that underpin international peace and stability: solidarity, human dignity, and the rule of law. Today, these fundamental assumptions are under acute threat.   Upholding international humanitarian law is not just a legal obligation; it’s a reaffirmation of Europe's commitment to the normative foundations of the social contract between a state and its people, and of the rules-based order that governs relations among states.   Commonly agreed rules and states’ commitment to uphold them have historically proven to be efficient and durable underpinnings of peace and economic prosperity.   When respected, international humanitarian law protects human life and dignity even in times of war. What has kept me awake since I joined the ICRC two years ago is not the fact that IHL is regularly violated. It’s that today, the real risk for humanity lies in the permissiveness of its interpretation by the warring parties and their allies. It’s the neglect. It’s putting aside the rules of war and the law.   History has proven that where the barriers to the dehumanisation of the enemy are hollowed out or deliberately tolerated under international watch, violence escalates without restraint, and the consequences quickly spiral out of control.   Today the world is on fire. Conflicts are multiplying. They are intensifying. The International Committee of the Red Cross now classifies about 130 armed conflicts in the world. This is more than we recorded a year ago, and far more than 25 years ago.   The number of armed actors involved in armed conflicts is also on the rise. For example, we are seeing more and more people living under the control of non-state armed groups. And we estimate that over 210 million people live in areas fully controlled or contested by armed groups, almost half of them in Africa.   War never is contained by borders. Its consequences spill over into neighbouring countries through refugee crises, into global markets through economic ripple effects, and into new security threats that can strike when and where we least expect it.   International humanitarian law was not created to prevent war or prevent investments in defence systems. But it is designed to prevent barbarity. If states do not stand firmly behind these rules, they accept the possibility of irreversible destruction and limitless suffering. When those who hold the military might dismiss the rules that protect civilians and critical infrastructure in times war, their own populations risk finding themselves on the wrong side of the line.   Defending the normative frameworks that underlie multilateralism and international cooperation is not political weakness. It is political courage. It is an investment in stability and prosperity—and survival—at a time of tectonic and yet very blurry and unpredictable geopolitical shifts.   There cannot be room for double standards: a human life is a human life. When international humanitarian law is applied selectively, it becomes a tool of politics, not protection.   No one wants to live in a world where the rules of war apply to your enemies but not to yourselves or your allies. Ignoring these rules is a race to the moral bottom. A fast track to what philosophers call the state of nature. The “all against all.” We do not want to go there.   Denouncing your enemies in public statements does not mean you’re standing up for the rules of war. It is merely political positioning. Because no one fights alone.   I had the opportunity to speak at the UN Security Council last September and again a month ago. On both occasions, I underlined that States need to call their allies when they violate the rules of war, and demand that they stop. Denouncing their enemies does very little, if anything, to change the realities for civilians living through war.   The Geneva Conventions are clear: “to ensure respect” means that each state must not only comply with IHL itself but has a duty to take proactive measures to promote respect for IHL by others.   This applies universally, meaning that third-party states—those not involved in conflict—also bear responsibility to act when serious violations occur. You don’t have to pull the trigger to make yourself complicit.   When the rules are applied selectively, they lose their protective power. Double standards not only undermine the law. They fuel impunity, prolong suffering, and erode trust among people and states.   International humanitarian law is meant to protect all civilians and those no longer taking part in hostilities. It was designed to address double standards in warfare. Under IHL, all parties should be treated equally in conflict. And the same rules apply no matter what side of the frontline you live on.   This is not an abstract issue because when IHL is respected, all sides benefit. It saves lives. It prevents torture, sexual violence, and hostage-taking. It requires hospitals, homes, and schools to be spared from hostilities. It demands that all those who are captured and detained in conflict be treated humanely. It specifies that the wounded and sick must be cared for, and that civilians have a right to receive humanitarian assistance.   When states invoke “exceptionalism,” claiming that their circumstances place them above the law, they do more than bend the rules. They erode the very foundation of the legal framework designed to protect their own people.   Every state has ratified the Geneva Conventions. Their obligations are not optional, nor are they contingent on how the war started. States cannot justify targeting civilians, civilian infrastructure, or disproportionately attacking military objectives by invoking self-defence. The strength of these rules lies in consistent enforcement and the political will to put humanity first, especially when it is hard to do so.   The rules of war also apply equally to all those not taking part in the fighting, including those captured. These protections are not dependent on the status assigned to the detainee by the detaining authority.   For example, there is no such thing as a “terrorism exception” under IHL. The rules of war apply to everyone captured in conflict. This means that torture and cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment are always prohibited. The path to peace very often starts in a prison cell with how you treat your enemies.   International humanitarian law is not made for the hopeful days of peace. It is made for humanity’s darkest days, when armed conflict rages and people are in grave danger.   It is essential that states do not take the route of pulling away from treaties or conventions that keep vulnerable people safe and mitigate the horrors of war. We are now witness to some European countries thinking and planning to leave some key humanitarian treaties.   Double standards and exceptionalism are not unique to the West, but if European identity is to embody certain values, you must apply the same standards to yourselves and your allies as you project onto others.   The world is looking for moral leadership. Youth are looking for moral leadership. And this starts with seeing all human beings as equal.   I also want to address the numbness—and the risk of numbness—because there was a time when the world was shocked by bodies broken by bombs. By starving children. Now we scroll past them.   What happens to human dignity when livestreamed atrocities provoke words but no real action? And what happens when we become numb to suffering?   Because in Gaza today, we are watching a people be entirely stripped of their human dignity. If this does not shock our collective conscience, I ask you all: what will? We cannot become complacent in the face of such human suffering.   I just said we must guard against double standards in the application of the law. We must also confront double standards in our compassion.   A child’s life in Gaza is worth exactly the same as one in Israel. A child’s life in Ukraine is worth the same as one in Russia. A child’s life in France is worth the same as one in Sudan, Myanmar, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.   If we subconsciously rank human life, put human dignity on a scale believing that one life is more deserving of protection and dignity than another, we accept a logic that can one day be used against ourselves and against our children.   No one should view what is happening in Gaza or Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar as a far away matter with little impact on our life. This is too short-sighted.   I want to explain why. Your state may not be at war today. Your family may be far from frontlines. But tides turn. New conflicts erupt. Europe must defend the rules of war today because if we do not, we are accepting a world where wars can be fought with greater barbarity and intensity.   A message I say repeatedly to European leaders is: if you want to protect your own people, you must protect the fundamental principles enshrined in international law, even when it is inconvenient.   Dismissing the law in the name of national interest is short-term thinking with long-term consequences because it informs how conflicts are fought tomorrow, and we can’t afford for the bar to be lowered any further because the world is on fire already.   If everything is permitted, then no one is safe. Tomorrow’s world is being shaped by today’s decisions. The way wars are fought today reverberates from one theatre of conflict into another, and we see this on the ground. They inform the baseline of what is acceptable. If we keep bending the rules beyond recognition, we are inherently accepting that this is the standard for which all civilians can be treated, including if war comes to our doorsteps.   The domino effects of escalating conflict are immediate and real. And cities across Europe are already increasing their security measures. Governments are issuing travel warnings. If we are to reverse this tide, States need to invest more in de-escalation and peace, and this includes respecting the letter and spirit of the rules of war. The spirit of the law; not hollowing out the law.   And there’s another danger emerging, one that deepens the risk of double standards. As warfare becomes technologically more advanced, it becomes more unequal and more opaque. Any state or armed group can harness cutting-edge technologies—drones, autonomous weapons, cyber tools—with far greater reach and far less scrutiny than ever before.   Alongside brutal, kinetic battles fought with advanced heavy explosive weapons, we now face the rise of drone and cyber warfare. They define what’s happening in the field. And as technology evolves, so do frontlines. War is no longer constrained to trenches or physical areas of control, but across vast distances and into the digital and cyber sphere.   In this landscape, double standards don’t just persist, but they are coded into the systems that determine who lives and who dies. And when decision-making is driven by algorithms, it becomes even harder to trace accountability, let alone demand it.   As our capacity to kill and destroy grows with each technological leap, our commitment to the rules that limit that destruction is shrinking. This is a dangerous contradiction. States need to ensure that IHL is fit for the future and accept that this will be far harder to do if we erode the foundations of the law today.   The best outcome for all would be that all sides comply with the law. This would bring less harm for civilians affected by war, and more security for all of us. The worst outcome is that no one complies, triggering a pattern of endless retaliation that lowers the bar for the conduct of hostilities in future conflicts.   Everyone is acting to win, but in doing so, they get on a path to self-destruction. Rules are discarded, norms ignored and red lines blurred. What remains is a world drifting towards fear and constant uncertainty, where might alone makes right.   If wars are fought with the mentality of “total victory” or “because we can” it signals to their enemy that no rules apply, and it simultaneously sends the same signal to every arms-bearer in the world.   This is how all humanity can be lost in war. It lowers the bar for compliance further and further and cements the assumption that your opponent will violate agreed rules so it’s in your interest to do the same.   How do we escape this trap? This is what I have been asking myself since I joined the ICRC. We can by reinvesting in the universality of compliance.   Europe must show leadership by making the international agreements founded on the ruins of Second World War their political priority again. This starts with the fundamental principles enshrined in the Geneva Conventions.   I want to conclude by saying that to accept endless war is to accept a world perpetually on fire where cycles of violence, suffering, and destruction become the norm rather than the exception. This path is not inevitable. But changing course demands moral clarity, political will and courage, but first and foremost it requires a vision for peace.   European leaders must loudly and unequivocally defend the rules of war not out of convenience or of political calculation, but as a long-term investment in global peace, stability, and prosperity.   More must be done to end wars. To find ways to de-escalate. But that investment begins with Europe holding itself and its allies to the same standards that it expects of others.   This is a very decisive moment for Europe. We have to make it one that upholds the rules of war. That invests in the respect and ensures the respect of the rules of war. Preserving the power of a rules-based order against the might of violence.   http://www.icrc.org/en/statement/icrc-president-when-rules-war-are-applied-selectively-they-lose-their-protective-power Visit the related web page
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