Former Iraqi President Salih slated to lead UN refugee agency

A signed letter from Guterres, dated Thursday and addressed to Atsuyuki Oike, Japan’s top diplomat in Geneva and chair of UNHCR’s executive committee, that was seen by news agencies, confirmed the appointment pending formal approval, Al-Jazeera reported.

All going according to plan, Salih, 65, will succeed Filippo Grandi, whose second five-year term as the UN High Commissioner for Refugees expires on December 31, becoming the first non-Western head of the Geneva-based agency in about half a century.

Alessandra Vellucci, chief spokesperson for the UN office, told reporters that the appointment would have to go through “a proper process” that includes consultations with the UNHCR committee, with a final decision taken by the UN General Assembly in New York.

Salih, who studied engineering in the United Kingdom to escape persecution under the rule of Saddam Hussein, served as Iraqi president from 2018 to 2022.

Originally from Iraq’s Kurdish region, Salih said during his campaign for the job that he believed deeply in the refugee agency’s mission “because I have lived it”.

MNA