“Present in this hall today are representatives of governments that have ignored, facilitated, funded, participated in or even planned and carried out atrocities inflicted by all sides of the Syria conflict against Syrian civilians”, he said.
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Eritrea believes that every nation has primary responsibility to provide a safe, secure and dignified life for its citizens in their country and to enable them to pursue opportunities in other countries.
US President Barack Obama will host a second summit on Tuesday, when some 40 countries are expected make new offers of aid, either by taking in more refugees or supporting access to education and jobs.
Huang, the Amnesty official, expressed alarm over statements from countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia and Hungary that she said emphasize border security and national security and push for refugees to remain in the countries where they initially land.
United Nations member-states adopted a plan on Monday, September 19, to tackle the biggest refugee crisis since World War II amid dire warnings about rising xenophobia in Europe and the collapse of countries bordering war-shattered Syria.
“The bitter truth is this Summit was called because we have been largely failing”, he said.
National Security Advisor Susan Rice in June announced that the gathering – co-hosted along with the USA by Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, Jordan, Mexico, Sweden and the UN Secretary General – would seek an increase in funding of at least 30%, a doubling of permanent resettlement, and expanded access to education and work rights for refugees.
“UNHCR will study the commitments made today over the coming days”.
Lebanese Prime Minister Tammam Salam presented a dire situation facing his country, which hosts 1.5 million Syrian refugees compared with its population of 4 million, and called for a massive resettlement program by the end of the year. She confirmed Britain’s ongoing commitment to worldwide aid: “We must also be clear that this crisis has been exacerbated by unprecedented levels of uncontrolled migration”, May told the summit, adding that countries had the right to protect and manage their borders. The entity claims to be the first ever global alliance of migrants, refugees, displaced peoples and their families.
President Barack Obama made an impassioned plea Tuesday for countries to fulfill a moral obligation to alleviate a global refugee crisis “of epic proportions”, despite a political backlash in the USA against absorbing those fleeing Middle East violence.
Governments on Tuesday pledged about $4.5 billion more than 2015 levels in contributions to the United Nations and humanitarian organizations to address the global refugee crisis at a summit hosted by Obama at the United Nations, a White House statement said.
It estimates that 65.3m people were either refugees, asylum seekers or internally displaced at the end of 2015, an increase of five million in a year.
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The spotlight at the annual meeting will not only be on the global crises but the possibility of solutions, topped by the Syrian conflict, escalating attacks around the world by Islamic extremists, and millions of people fleeing fighting and poverty.
