Graeme Reid, UN independent expert on gender orientation and gender diversity, at an event in Geneva to present a report by the Association for the Prevention of Torture on LGBT people in detention, 17 September 2026. (APT/Ben Buckland)

UN LGBT rights expert: Authoritarian populists fuelling tide of anti-gay laws for votes. A tide of anti-gay laws and rhetoric is sweeping across regions, putting already stigmatised communities at greater risk. In an interview with Geneva Solutions, the Human Rights Council-backed LGBT rights expert, Graeme Reid, warns that the rise of authoritarian populists and the decline of democracy are creating a perfect storm.

❝The UN rights council can't address anti-gay laws without condemning their colonial roots. Fifty-two of the 65 countries that criminalise consensual same-sex intimacy inherited such laws from colonial rule. Yet a proposed UN resolution on decriminalisation omits that history, risking the false impression that LGBTIQ rights are a western imposition, write Venus Aves and André du Plessis of Outright International.

Bringing you the latest from UN press briefings in Geneva.

👥UNSAFE TO RETURN HOME. On Tuesday, Malaysia began repatriating Myanmar nationals, despite warnings from the UN refugee agency that conditions in the country remain unsafe. Human rights organisations have also warned of the risks of returning Rohingya refugees to the war-torn country, where they face persecution.

Nearly 1,500 people who began the trip are among 5,000 who will be repatriated in stages from Malaysia. (Associated Press)

This comes amid tensions between the UN agency and Kuala Lumpur, which launched a review of its presence in the country over the summer. (Al Jazeera)

UNHCR spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh told reporters, “Under international law, no one should be returned to a country where human rights are violated,” adding that the agency is in contact with the military junta.

📝REFUGEES AT RISK. A new UNHCR report says funding cuts are eroding protection for millions of displaced and stateless people.

The agency only received 32 per cent of required funding for 2026, which has left 8.3 million forcibly displaced people on the brink of losing access to humanitarian assistance.

“Beyond the pages of the report is a world of unimaginable suffering,” said Dominique Hyde, the UNHCR’s external relations director, underscoring the impact of funding cuts on displaced peoples lives.

Consequences. In Chad, up to 319,000 people are at risk at losing their documentation, a key gateway to food, health care and education, while up to 200,000 women and girls may lose access to safe spaces and prevention programmes, and child protection services risk becoming unavailable to roughly 233,000 children.

In Sudan, meanwhile, tens of thousands of survivors of sexual violence and children are at serious risk of losing access to critical protection services.

🇾🇪YEMEN HEALTH SYTEM. The latest escalation of fighting by Iran-backed Houthis against the Saudi-backed government is pushing the country’s already fragile health system towards collapse, the World Health Organization warned.

Hospitals under strain. Nine health facilities have been damaged, closed or attacked, and two hospitals have suspended emergency obstetric care to prioritise trauma cases. Even before the escalation, only about 60 per cent of facilities were fully functional.

Toll. Annette Heinzelmann, WHO Eastern Mediterranean emergency director, told journalists that Yemen recorded nearly 8,000 cases of suspected cholera, including 22 people who have died and 9,604 cases and 37 deaths from dengue.

Most concerning, she said, was that more than 22,000 cases of measles have been detected, including 128 deaths from the disease.

— Agostina Ceresoli and Paula Dupraz-Dobias