UNHCR declares ‘major humanitarian emergency’ in Middle East

2026-03-06 - 13:03

The United Nations refugee agency on Friday declared the crisis in the Middle East a major humanitarian emergency, and insisted all fleeing civilians should be granted safe passage. UNHCR said the Middle East crisis — which began on Saturday when Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran and has spread since — had already caused large numbers of people to flee their homes. “UNHCR has declared the escalating crisis in the Middle East as a major humanitarian emergency requiring an immediate response across the region,” Ayaki Ito, the agency’s emergency chief and its cross-regional refugee coordinator, told a press briefing in Geneva. “The recent escalation of hostility and attacks in the Middle East have triggered significant population movements — while clashes along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan have also forced many thousands of families to flee,” he said. The affected regions already host nearly 25 million people as refugees, internally displaced people, or refugees who have recently returned from abroad, said Ito. He said the UNHCR was trying to get life-saving assistance into affected countries across the region. ALSO READ: Government ‘closely watching’ the oil price and jet fuel situation – Creecy Ito said it was imperative that all civilians who need to move, or cross borders, “find safety and safe passage”. Fresh strikes rocked Iran and Lebanon on Friday, as Israel vowed to escalate to a new phase in the Middle East war that has spiralled rapidly throughout the region and beyond. Explosions heard in Iraq’s Erbil, US-run oil field shut down Explosions sounded on Friday near Erbil airport in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region and an attack forced a US-run oil field to shut production. AFP journalists reported lound bangs and seeing grey smoke rising from near the airport area, which hosts US-led coalition troops The autonomous Kurdistan region, which hosts US troops, has been pulled into the war engulfing the Middle East, suffering mostly from drone attacks on US bases and interests there. Drones have repeatedly been intercepted over the city of Erbil, which is also home to a major US consulate complex. ALSO READ: Iran says it will fight the war alone Kurdistan’s natural resources ministry said on Friday that oil production at an oil field operated by US firm HKN Energy had been halted following an attack in the Sarsang area in Dohuk province. A security source told AFP the attack was carried out with two drones the previous day. Iraq, which has recently regained a sense of stability but has long been a proxy battleground between the US and Iran, had said it did not want to be dragged into the war. But it has not been spared. Several Iran-backed armed groups — known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, to which Kataeb Hezbollah also belongs — have said they will not stay neutral and have claimed dozens of drone attacks on US bases. On Tuesday, a source at an oil company in Kurdistan told AFP that most foreign oil companies had temporarily halted production as a precautionary measure. UN demands swift probe into Israeli strikes on Lebanon The United Nations on Friday demanded swift investigations into fatal Israeli strikes across Lebanon to decide if they followed international law. ALSO READ: Middle East War latest: Trump wants a say in choosing next Iran leader “The devastating impact of this renewed conflict is already before our eyes, with civilians paying a painfully heavy price,” UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva. “We urge the parties to step back from the brink of a major escalation of this conflict in Lebanon.” Her comments came as fresh Israeli strikes battered Lebanon, where Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned “a humanitarian disaster is looming” due to mass displacement. Shamdasani warned that “Israel’s military ground incursions into southern Lebanon, blanket displacement orders for the population in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Bekaa region and the full area to the south of the Litani river, and its continued air strikes on different parts of the country, are bringing more misery and suffering to an already weary civilian population”. “These warnings and displacement orders issued for the south of Lebanon reportedly affected more than 100 towns and villages — home to tens of thousands of people, and risk affecting many more,” she said. “In addition, on Thursday, the Israeli army urged the complete evacuation of almost the entire southern suburb of Beirut, creating fear and panic among residents, as well as the Bekaa region in eastern Lebanon.” ALSO READ: Wary European states pledge military aid for Cyprus, Gulf Shamdasani warned that in all, “hundreds of thousands have now been affected by these Israeli displacement orders”, cautioning that they risked amounting to “prohibited forced displacement” under international law. As for the strikes, she pointed to reports that at least eight people were killed in a strike on a residential building in Baalbek on Wednesday, including three girls and two women, and a family of four reportedly died when a building was struck in the Nabatyeh district on Thursday. “Prompt and thorough investigations must be conducted, particularly to determine whether such attacks complied with the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution,” she said. Shamdasani also highlighted that “Hezbollah has continued launching barrages of rockets into Israel, striking residential areas in the north and the centre of the country, with at least three people reportedly injured”. This, she stressed, raised “concerns, once again, about indiscriminate attacks against civilians”. She called for “urgent de-escalation” and compliance with Security Council resolutions and ceasefire agreements. ALSO READ: Here’s how many South Africans are in the Middle East, as Dirco urges immediate evacuation “The sovereignty of Lebanon and the human rights of its people must be respected,” she said.