Former Iraqi President Barham Salih (2018–2022) has been appointed the new UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Reuters reported, citing an internal document.
According to a letter dated December 11 and signed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Salih is appointed for a five-year term. He is expected to replace Italian diplomat Filippo Grandi, who has held the post for the past decade and whose mandate expires at the end of 2025. The document notes that the appointment is preliminary and must be approved by the Executive Committee of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Alessandra Vellucci, head of the information service at the UN’s Geneva headquarters, told reporters at a briefing that the appointment of a new High Commissioner follows an “established procedure,” and that final approval of any candidate must come from the UN General Assembly. “At this stage, I can only say that the process is ongoing. Once it is completed, the United Nations will make an official announcement,” she explained.
Barham Salih was born in Sulaymaniyah in 1960 and received his education in the United Kingdom. He joined the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in the 1970s, where he was responsible for relations with Western countries. From 2001 to 2004, he headed the cabinet of ministers of Iraqi Kurdistan, and in 2005 became minister of planning in Iraq’s interim government. From 2006 to 2009, he served as deputy prime minister under Nouri al-Maliki, and from 2009 to 2011, he again served as prime minister of the Kurdistan regional government. In 2018, after a second round of parliamentary voting, he was elected president of Iraq, but in 2022 failed in his bid for a second term.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: GIAN EHRENZELLER/EPA/TASS
Based on materials from TASS