UN warns of rough winter ahead for refugees

The United Nations warned Tuesday that millions of refugees and displaced people face a gruelling winter, with far less humanitarian aid available this year as the coldest months arrive in the northern hemisphere.

UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, has seen its funding from governments slashed and is trying to raise at least $35 million in public donations to help Syrian, Afghan and Ukrainian refugees through the winter.

"Families will have to endure freezing temperatures without things many of us take for granted: a proper roof, insulation, heating, blankets, warm clothes or medicine," UNHCR's external relations chief Dominique Hyde said in a statement.

Under President Donald Trump, the United States, traditionally the world's top donor, has slashed foreign aid.

Washington previously accounted for more than 40 percent of the UNHCR's budget, and other major donor countries have also been tightening their belts, leaving the agency's finances looking bleak.

"Humanitarian budgets are stretched to breaking point and the winter support that we offer will be much less this year," said Hyde.

"We need more funding to help make many lives slightly more tolerable."

UNCHR said it was critical that private donors now step in to help save lives.

"UNHCR plans to raise at least $35 million to help repair homes that have been bombed, insulate houses, provide warmth and blankets to children and the elderly, and money to buy medicines and hot food," it said.

Millions on the move

Returning refugees will also be affected, the agency warned.

More than a million Syrian refugees have returned since the overthrow of president Bashar al-Assad's regime last December.

UNHCR said many were returning to find their houses destroyed by the 14-year Syrian civil war.

"The most vulnerable families face the cold with nothing to shield them; funding cuts risk leaving 750,000 people without vital support through the season," it said.

More than 2.2 million Afghans have returned from Pakistan and Iran this year, some empty-handed, with few prospects and having never set foot in the crisis-riddled country before, UNHCR said.

Two earthquakes in recent months have left families in an even more precarious position.

In Ukraine, temperatures could drop to minus 20C as people face a fourth winter in full-scale war following the 2022 Russian invasion.

"Humanitarian needs continue to grow as intensifying attacks claim civilian lives and destroy infrastructure, cumulatively adding to disruptions to gas, electricity and water," UNHCR said.

The agency said that despite its best efforts, many refugees worldwide would be left with little to shield them from freezing temperatures.

Hyde said: "Our teams are on the ground, determined to protect refugees from the cold -- but we are running out of time and resources."