US mulls cutting ties with UN refugee agency, prompting diplomatic flurry — sources

GENEVA/WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump’s administration has in recent weeks weighed cutting ties with the UN refugee agency, prompting a campaign by diplomats and UN officials to persuade the United States to maintain support, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

Eight sources, including diplomats, aid sources and a congressional source, told Reuters that Washington — historically UNHCR’s largest donor — has been considering disengaging from the agency. Several said a decision had been expected last week, but no announcement was made, suggesting that the lobbying effort may have helped delay or avert a move.

Reuters granted the sources anonymity to speak about UN relations with the US.

UNHCR is a separate body from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The latter deals solely with Palestinian refugees and those descended from Arabs displaced in Israel’s 1948 War of Independence, while UNHCR is global.

The US deliberations over leaving UNHCR, which was created in the aftermath of World War II to help refugees fleeing war, persecution and violence, follow a disagreement over the appointment of the deputy high commissioner, five of the sources said.

They said that the agency had informed supporters that it could be placed on a US blacklist, ending funding, and that Washington could also withdraw from its governing Executive Committee.

Any end to US funding would seriously weaken the agency at a time of near-record levels of displacement around the world amid long-running conflicts like Ukraine and Sudan, diplomats and aid officials said.

“People have been alerted by UNHCR to call friends in the administration,” a source at an aid group involved in the talks told Reuters, saying that many had done so. “They are at least thinking about it,” the source added.

Another diplomat said UNHCR officials had asked supporters in the past week to use all available diplomatic channels with the United States to urge ongoing support.

A UN refugee agency spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. “We have no comment on this issue because we have no information on it,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

A State Department spokesperson said there have not been any changes to Washington’s engagement with UNHCR. “As with many other international organizations, we work with and through UNHCR when doing so is useful to advance US foreign policy interests or save lives.”

“We will continue to evaluate the United States’ role in international organizations,” the spokesperson added, referring to a February 2025 Executive Order to review US participation and funding.

Since beginning his second term last year, US President Donald Trump has cut funding for UN agencies and withdrawn from dozens of UN entities including the World Health Organization. Trump officials have also urged other nations to join a global campaign to roll back asylum protections.

Leadership dilemma

The dispute centers on last month’s appointment of US career diplomat Tressa Rae Finerty as UNHCR’s deputy high commissioner.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih chose Finerty over Simon Hankinson, a US-backed candidate and former foreign service officer who has accused the UNHCR of pursuing “a mass migration agenda.”

“If they wanted reform, a return to UNHCR’s original mission of helping actual refugees, and a careful inspection of budgets and spending, I was the guy,” he told Reuters, calling Finerty a “business as usual” candidate.

Reuters could not reach Finerty for comment.

A former senior UNHCR official said Salih, a former Iraqi president and refugee, would have faced internal “uproar” had he backed Hankinson.

Other UN agencies like the International Labour Organization have also faced dilemmas over appointing US officials amid questions about the US commitment to global cooperation.

Andrew Veprek, assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration who has espoused anti-migration views, was involved in backing Hankinson’s candidacy, two of the sources said. The US State Department declined to comment on his involvement.

Top donor

The US was the top donor to UNHCR in 2025, giving $868 million or about a quarter of the total contributions, according to the agency.

UNHCR is already facing a financial crisis after available funding fell roughly 30 percent in 2025 compared with 2024, Reuters reported. The agency has cut thousands of jobs and announced further cuts this year.

Diplomats and aid officials said a full US withdrawal would deepen the crisis and undermine support for the 1951 Refugee Convention, the cornerstone of the post-war refugee protection system.

“Rethinking it would be an existential threat for UNHCR,” the former UNHCR official said. “It could have a massive knock-on effect.”

The United States was long UNRWA’s biggest donor, but froze funding in January 2024 after Israel accused agency staff of taking part in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel.

Israel has repeatedly alleged and shown evidence that employees of the agency were actively involved in terror groups in the Gaza Strip. It also notes that, unlike the main refugee agency, UNRWA doesn’t seek to resettle Palestinian refugees in other countries and indefinitely grants descendants of refugees automatic refugee status even if they were never displaced during their lifetime, causing the number of registered refugees to balloon instead of shrink, as generally happens with other refugee populations as they are resettled.