GENEVA: An estimated 2.5 million refugees worldwide will need to be resettled next year, the UN said Tuesday, at a time when the United States but also other nations are shrinking resettlement access.

UNHCR, the United Nations’ refugee agency, said the needs were down slightly from this year, when around 2.9 million refugees are estimated to need resettlement.

“This is mainly due to the changed situation in Syria, which has allowed for voluntary returns,” UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo told reporters in Geneva.

“We are seeing some people pull out of resettlement processes in favor of plans to go home to rebuild,” she added.

Mantoo said that in 2026, the largest refugee populations likely to need to be resettled were Afghans, Syrians, South Sudanese, Rohingya from Myanmar, and Congolese.

Most of the refugees will need resettling from major host countries including Iran, Turkiye, Pakistan, Ethiopia and Uganda, she said.

The announcement came as the UNHCR’s resettlement efforts face towering hurdles.

“In 2025... resettlement quotas are expected to be the lowest in two decades, falling below the levels seen even during the Covid-19 pandemic, when many countries paused their programs,” Mantoo said.

Part of the decline is linked to the United States — long the world’s biggest resettler of refugees — which has now slammed its doors shut.

Shortly after returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump halted the US refugee resettlement program.

Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden had embraced the program designed to facilitate legal resettlement of vetted refugees, resettling over 100,000 refugees in the United States last year.

Mantoo stressed though that the problem was not with just one country.

“We have indications that a number of countries are reducing or adjusting quotas,” she said.

Stressing that resettlement among other things “offers a concrete alternative to dangerous journeys,” Mantoo urged countries to “sustain their programs and increase their intake.”

In recognition that the needs far outstrip the available spots, she said that the international community had set itself a goal of resettling 120,000 refugees in 2026.

“Recent history shows that this is achievable,” she said.

Last year, she said that despite the challenges, the UNHCR supported the resettlement of 116,000 refugees globally.

“Every place is invaluable for those fleeing danger.”

Earlier this month UNHCR said a record 123.2 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced from their homes at the end of 2024.

But that figure dropped to 122.1 million by the end of April this year, as Syrians began returning home after years of turmoil.

DHAHRAN: “Aramcorama,” within Ithra’s museum, reimagines the exhibition experience, turning the Kingdom’s industrial history into a personal and immersive journey.

Rather than simply documenting the rise of the country’s oil industry, the exhibition explores how it shaped cities, communities, and modern life.

It encourages visitors to reflect on how past events changed people’s sense of identity.

“Aramcorama” tells the story through a rich selection of visuals. Geological maps, handwritten notes, internal messages, and photographs trace nearly a century of growth and change.

Visitors can explore a timeline highlighting each decade and framed by hanging prints and illuminated media displays. This setup creates an engaging environment that feels dynamic and full of discovery.

Abdullah Alshammasi, a longtime engineer at Aramco, spoke to Arab News about how the company influenced more than just the oil and gas industry and impacted generations of employees and locals.

He said: “The company certainly had lasting consequences on the earliest generations that worked in it.

Aramco’s history is the modern history of the communities that lived in the Eastern Province.

Abdullah Alshammasi, Aramco engineer

“The fact is, since the company was established it needed a knowledgeable workforce, so a campaign of education was also established, and it steadily increased in depth from manual skills to softer, more intellectual skills.”

The exhibition also showcases vintage safety posters that were originally used to display workplace rules. These posters show how design and language have changed over the years, highlighting the changes in style and communication.

This section of the exhibition captures the story’s understated honesty, letting ordinary items like posters, letters, and tools tell the story of values, habits, and shifting responsibilities.

As visitors explore the exhibition, they can see how the company’s global outlook has influenced not only individual lives but also the nation’s perspective.

Alshammasi explained: “Generations have now been everywhere around the globe, studying at the best institutions, bringing back with them a better sense of the world, widening their horizons and, therefore, our societies and culture.”

“Aramcorama” ultimately reflects how modern Saudi society was built; not just through buildings and oil fields, but also through education, progress, and mindset.

Alshammasi said: “It tells me that Aramco is as old as our modern lives.”

This fact is especially evident in the Eastern Province, where the company’s presence reshaped daily life, and Alshammasi added: “Aramco’s history is the modern history of the communities that lived in the Eastern Province. Their lives were directly affected by the company, for good and for ill.”

The exhibition does not hide that tension, but invites reflection on both progress and its costs, what was gained and what may have been lost.

“Aramcorama” does not ask visitors to celebrate or criticize, but to notice, reflect, and form their own opinions.

It respects the complexity of history and shows how innovation, labor, infrastructure, and community are all deeply connected.