President Obama said the global community can not avert its eyes from the crisis.
Advertisement
Obama will host a summit on the global refugee crisis on the margins of UNGA later Tuesday, in an effort to galvanise new global commitments to help the refugees.
“Just when we think it can not get any worse, the bar of depravity sinks lower”, Ban said.
In particular, seven countries – Romania, Portugal, Spain, Czech Republic, Italy, France, Luxembourg – committed to resettle or admit at least 10 times more refugees than in 2015, according to USA officials.A record-breaking 65 million people are on the move worldwide, including 21 million refugees fleeing the war in Syria and other conflicts.
Millions of Palestinian refugees are registered with the United Nations.
The audience received him warmly that day, in contrast with the silent response that Bush often got at the United Nations gathering.
That choice, Obama implied, was as sharply drawn in the race between Trump and the president’s preferred candidate, Hillary Clinton, as it was in the grinding sectarian war in Syria, the predations of President Vladimir Putin of Russian Federation and the muscle-flexing of China. He said “in too many places, we see leaders rewriting constitutions, manipulating elections and taking other desperate steps to cling to power”.
Last year’s Paris agreement to to combat climate change will help to reverse a rise in global temperatures, and the United States deal with Iran to roll back the country’s nuclear program has reduced the threat of another Mideast war, Mr Obama said.
The President’s interest in calling attention to the tens of millions of displaced people around the world, and pushing back against the anti-refugee tenor, was underscored by his decision to convene a Leaders’ Summit on Refugees at the United Nations Tuesday.
Obama welcomed the pledges of increased assistance.
In an oblique reference to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has suggested temporarily banning Muslim immigrants, Obama said buying into the notion that Muslim immigrants pose an inherent risk would reinforce terrorists’ propaganda.
In the same month that North Korea conducted its second nuclear test of the year, Obama highlighted the benefits of free markets over markets resisting influence from globalization.
“Surely, Israelis and Palestinians will be better off if Palestinians reject incitement and recognize the legitimacy of Israel, but Israel recognizes that it can not permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land”, Obama said.
Worldwide trade deals, Obama said, could ensure that profits of the global economy are more evenly distributed.
The 72 year-old South Korean’s term as Secretary General ends on December the 31st.
He said the world will be more secure if nations are prepared to help those in need and urged countries to follow through on their pledges “even when the politics are hard”.
Obama commented as the White House announced that more than four dozen USA businesses have pledged $650 million to help refugees.
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz wasted no time highlighting the failings of President Barack Obama’s remarks before the United Nations on Tuesday, where the president called for LESS freedom and to effectively abandon the Constitution in favor of “binding ourselves to global rules”.
Advertisement
Leaders also called for a more orderly and equitable system to manage refugee flows – acknowledging the burden is shouldered disproportionally by certain regions. Last week, South Sudan joined the ranks of Syria, Afghanistan, and Somalia – countries with over 1 million of their citizens living as refugees overseas.
