The international community must join forces to help migrants and refugees, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday at the opening of the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva
GENEVA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th December, 2019) The international community must join forces to help migrants and refugees, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday at the opening of the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva.
"More than 70 million people have been forced from their homes, including 25 million refugees. UNHCR has described these numbers as the 'highest levels of displacement on record'. Now more than ever, we need international cooperation and practical, effective responses. And this is the reason why we are here," he said.
Guterres recalled that at present, most refugees and displaced persons are hosted by middle-income developing countries. They need international support, both financially and in providing practical assistance to people.
"More fundamentally, we need to re-establish the integrity of the international refugee protection regime, with the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol at its core," he said.
The UN chief emphasized that the goal of the Global Refugee Forum is to establish the foundations for the practical implementation of the Global Refugee Treaty, approved by the UN in New York in December 2018.
"This is not an unmanageable situation. This is a moment to mobilize international cooperation and solidarity to galvanize real progress on access to education, livelihoods, and energy; to build the resilience of refugees and their host communities; to preserve humanitarian space and access to people in need; and to strengthen services, in particular for people with disabilities and people who have faced sexual- or gender-based violence. This work needs diverse coalitions," Guterres added.
The Global Refugee Forum is being held in Geneva from Monday through Thursday. The official opening of the high-level session with the participation of the UN Secretary General, the presidents of Turkey and Costa Rica, as well as senior representatives of Germany, Pakistan and Ethiopia will take place on Wednesday. It is expected that the forum will discuss issues on mechanisms for sharing the burden of responsibility, providing education and employment of refugees, providing them with protection, livelihoods and building the necessary infrastructure.
