United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said attempts to demonize refugees are ’not only offensive; they are factually incorrect.’ (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday urged governments around the world to let in more people from Syria and “counter fear-mongering” about refugees.
Ban spoke at a one-day conference in Geneva meant to further efforts to resettle Syrian refugees. The UN refugee agency wants to find places abroad over the next three years for one-tenth of the 4.8 million Syrian refugees who are crowded into countries in the surrounding region.
“I ask that countries act with solidarity, in the name of our shared humanity, by pledging new and additional pathways for the admission of Syrian refugees,” Ban told the gathering of officials from over 90 countries. “These pathways can include resettlement or humanitarian admission, family reunions, as well as labour or study opportunities.”
The conference heard appeals for solidarity from the countries surrounding Syria. Turkey, which hosts some 2.7 million Syrians, said the UNHCR’s target of resettling 10 per cent of the refugees in the region is a good start but not enough.
Yousif Shikhmous, a refugee from Syria, with his baby named Merkkel, are among the many refugees who are living in an improvised camp on the border between Macedonia and Serbia. (Darko Vojinovic/Associated Press)
To date, 179,000 places have been pledged, according to Filippo Grandi, the UN high commissioner for refugees.
Ban said countries can benefit from accepting refugees as they can bring new skills and experience to aging workforces.
“Attempts to demonize them are not only offensive; they are factually incorrect,” he said. “I call on leaders to counter fear-mongering with reassurance, and to fight inaccurate information with the truth.”
Calls for a united international community
Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said the refugees were facing increasing obstacles to find safety.
Refugees from Syria warm themselves by fire at a makeshift camp on the Greek-Macedonian border, near the village of Idomeni in Greece on March 10. (Stoyan Nenov/Reuters)
“We must find a way to manage this crisis in a more humane, equitable and organized manner. It is only possible if the international community is united and in agreement on how to move forward,” Grandi said.
The five-year conflict has killed at least 250,000 people and driven nearly 5 million refugees abroad, mostly to neighbouring Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq.
’Lebanon is on fragile ground’
“If Europe were to welcome the same percentage of refugees as Lebanon in comparison to its population, it would have to take in 100 million refugees,” Grandi said.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi says the international community must find a way to manage the crisis in a more ’humane, equitable and organized manner.’ (Denis Balibouse/Reuters)
Lebanon’s minister of social affairs, Rachid Derbas, said his country of 4 million was struggling to host 1 million official refugees and another 1 million Syrians who have not registered.
“Lebanon is on fragile ground and is taking on a heavy burden. If Lebanon fails, and is crushed by the burden, it may itself be a source of concern for the High Commissioner,” he warned.
The European Union sealed a deal this month with Turkey, which hosts 2.7 million Syrian refugees, that is intended to halt illegal migration flows to Europe in return for financial and political rewards for Ankara.
Turkey’s deputy foreign minister, Ali Naci Koru, called the deal a “game changer”.
Ban, referring to UN-led efforts to end the war, which resume in Geneva in April, said: “We have a cessation of hostilities, by and large holding for over a month, but the parties must consolidate and expand it into a ceasefire, and ultimately to a political solution through dialogue.”
Source: The Associated Press, March 30