GENEVA — Three in four refugees, nearly 90 million people, live in countries facing high to severe exposure to drought, floods and extreme heat, the UN refugee agency said in a report published Friday, UN News reported.
The report, No Escape III, was released ahead of the COP31 climate conference, which opens in Antalya, Türkiye, next week.
Key facts
- Fragile and conflict-affected countries that host large refugee populations receive only about 10% of global climate funding, the report found.
- By 2050, one in three refugee settlements in sub-Saharan Africa could face at least 100 days of dangerous heat a year, it said.
- Flooding linked to El Niño is expected to force three million people across Somalia, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda from their homes by year’s end, the report said.
- Nearly 90% of stateless people live in countries highly exposed to climate hazards, it said.
What UNHCR said
“Refugees face a double injustice. Forced to flee conflicts they did not cause, they are now on the frontlines of a climate crisis they have contributed least to,” said Antón Leis García, UNHCR’s assistant high commissioner for operations.
More than two-thirds of refugees who returned home in the first half of 2026 went to countries highly vulnerable to climate hazards, the report said.
In Syria, nearly four million people have recently returned, where declining groundwater and climate shocks threaten recovery, it said.
The report profiles Monira Bahraldin, who fled El Fasher in Sudan’s Darfur region in June 2023 and now lives in a refugee settlement in eastern Chad.
“COP31 must be a turning point,” Leis García said.
This article rests on the UNHCR report as summarized by UN News. The Boston Report has not independently reviewed the full report.
Related coverage
- Global Migration Tracker
- Climate and Environment News
- El Fasher at One Year: Under 70,000 Left as Grid Collapses
Sources
- UN News, “‘No Escape’ for refugees on the frontlines of the climate crisis,” Nov. 6, 2026
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