Guterres taps former Iraqi President Barham Salih as choice for next UN refugee chief

NEW YORK — U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres has selected former Iraqi president Barham Salih as his choice to head the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, moving the veteran Iraqi Kurdish politician a step closer to one of the organization’s top humanitarian posts, according to a letter seen by 964media.

In a letter dated Dec. 11 to the chair of UNHCR’s Executive Committee, Guterres said he intends to propose to the U.N. General Assembly “the election of Mr. Barham Ahmed Salih of the Republic of Iraq as the new High Commissioner for Refugees for a period of five years, beginning on 1 January 2026 and ending on 31 December 2030.”

The secretary-general said the selection followed a global search in which member states were invited to submit nominations and potential candidates could also apply through a public advertisement for senior U.N. leadership positions. After a detailed review of applications and interviews with shortlisted candidates, a panel of senior advisers recommended several finalists for his consideration, the letter said.

Under UNHCR’s statute, the next step is for the secretary-general’s recommendation to be formally transmitted to the General Assembly, which is expected to act on the appointment before the end of Filippo Grandi’s term on Dec. 31, 2025. The letter asks that Guterres’s decision be shared with members of the Executive Committee ahead of the Assembly’s vote.

Salih’s selection follows months of lobbying by Baghdad and regional backers. As 964media reported in October, diplomats said he was among a small group of candidates under consideration for the post, alongside figures from Switzerland, Germany, Belgium and Turkey, with Iraq sending an official memorandum endorsing his bid. Later that month, the United Arab Emirates publicly announced its support during a UNHCR Executive Committee meeting in Geneva, while former Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari urged member states in a social media statement to back Salih’s candidacy.

If confirmed, Salih would succeed Grandi, who has led UNHCR since 2016. The high commissioner oversees the U.N. agency responsible for protecting refugees and other displaced people and for coordinating international responses to major displacement crises, making it one of the most influential humanitarian roles in the system. Previous officeholders include Guterres, who served as high commissioner from 2005 to 2015 before becoming secretary-general.

Salih, 65, served as Iraq’s president from 2018 to 2022. A longtime Kurdish politician, he previously held two terms as prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government and later served as Iraq’s deputy prime minister and minister of planning. He holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Cardiff University and a PhD in statistics and computer applications in engineering from the University of Liverpool.

He was the founding chair of the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani, and currently serves as a senior fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center.