ISTANBUL 

Türkiye has put forward its UN envoy, Ahmet Yildiz, as a candidate for the post of UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

High Commissioner Filippo Grandi’s 10-year tenure is coming to an end, and Türkiye and several countries have put forward nominations to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who also held the position in 2005-2015.

Yildiz outlined his vision for the role to Anadolu, anchoring it in operational excellence, comprehensive coordination with all stakeholders, transparent governance and a revived emphasis on the UNHCR’s vital work.  

Yildiz’s vision

To have a vision, Yildiz said, “You need an experience. As a country, we have experience. As a diplomat, I have quite big experience.”

Before becoming the Turkish envoy to the UN in 2024, Yildiz’s 37-year career took him to Bosnia, Iraq, Libya and Syria, working with refugees, forcibly displaced people and immigrants.

Yildiz noted that instead of the global refugee problem being solved, “conflicts are increasing, deteriorating, and the number of displaced persons, forcibly displaced persons, are increasing decade by decade.”

He said to navigate those treacherous paths, drawing on the vision of the UNHCR Founding Fathers’ vision for increased burden sharing within the UNHCR, is essential.

The “vision by our elders, founding fathers, was that this refugee and migration problem may create some conditions for some countries, especially neighboring countries to the conflict zones, may bring them a burden they cannot cope without international cooperation. We should build on this, and we are live witnesses that during the Syrian crisis, no country can manage it, even if you mobilize your own resources,” he said.

But Yildiz voiced concern over signals from some countries that they may cut contributions to the organization, while stressing that its future lies in modernization through new technologies, artificial intelligence, and stronger field operations.   

Dealing with root causes

At a time of financial constraints, the UNHCR is dealing with the number of refugees and displaced persons doubling from 60 million to 120 million in the past decade.

“The real issue is how to stop this trend,” said Yildiz, outlining that the main causes of forceful displacement have grown over time from conflicts and human rights problems to include climate change.

Therefore, he proposes adopting preventive measures at the source to curb irregular migration and control refugee flows in parallel with states’ priorities and capabilities.

“One of the priorities of the high commission should be to collaborate with the international community to get ready for crises, and, if possible, to review the international response in general to this by making new regulations complementary to the international protocol,” he said.

Türkiye, for these purposes, has become the “gold standard” on how to deal with immigration and refugees, according to Yildiz.

“Türkiye, after some experience, established a special agency for immigration. We modernized our infrastructure in the cities, on the borders. During the Syrian crisis, we noticed that many countries are not prepared for it,” he said.

In addition to the responsibilities of countries, Yildiz said making the UNHCR more visible should also be part of the organization's vision.

“One of the visions is to make the organization more visible, because not many people know about the UNHCR, what they are doing. That's why sometimes it is easy for some critics to criticize the organization instead of investigating the reasons,” he said.  

‘Collective responsibility for humanity’

Yildiz stated that he views the high commissioner position as one that encompasses “a collective responsibility for humanity.”

Through its role as donor and trusted partner, Türkiye contributes to the UNHCR’s global mission under the motto: “Leaving no one behind” and “Ensuring outreach for everyone in need,” which Yildiz said Türkiye and he would “do our best to explain our case to everybody.”

He said the secretary general knows this very well.

“We are hopeful, but whatever the decision of the secretary general, Türkiye will continue to cooperate with the UN and international organizations on this issue,” said the ambassador.

“I'm ready for it,” said Yildiz, noting that “Türkiye has great institutional capacity and ambition” in areas that the UNHCR needs.