Expert raises questions over UNHCR’s strategic direction after new leadership appointments

A former Head of Policy Development and Evaluation at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Jeff Crisp, has suggested that the organization’s newly announced leadership appointments could signal a shift in its priorities away from refugee protection and asylum toward humanitarian assistance and development.

Reacting to the appointments in a post on X, Crisp said the selection of the agency’s new senior officials “suggest that the agency might be going to focus on humanitarian assistance & development issues rather than refugee protection & asylum.”

He added that his concerns were reinforced by UNHCR’s support for the European Union’s Pact on Migration and Asylum.

“A suspicion strengthened by UNHCR’s endorsement of the EU Pact on Migration & Asylum,” Crisp wrote.

His comments came shortly after United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced the appointments of Tressa Rae Finerty as Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, Antón Leis García as Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, and Edem Wosornu as Assistant High Commissioner for Protection.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Barham Salih welcomed the appointments, saying the three officials bring extensive experience in humanitarian affairs, international cooperation and refugee protection. They are expected to assume their duties in the coming weeks.

Crisp’s remarks reflect concerns held by some refugee rights advocates and migration experts who have argued that UNHCR faces increasing pressure to balance its traditional mandate of protecting refugees and defending the right to asylum with expanding responsibilities in humanitarian response, development cooperation and migration management.

The appointments come at a time when the agency is grappling with record levels of forced displacement worldwide, shrinking humanitarian funding and increasingly restrictive asylum policies in many parts of the world.