The president is expected to announce new commitments from world leaders and business executives to assist refugees – including a vow to welcome 110,000 into the United States next year – during a special gathering on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in NY.
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Soros’ investment in refugees and migrants represents more money than some countries have given to refugee agencies to impede the large flow of migrants and refugees seeking refuge away from insecure and violent places.
“Many groups have killed innocent civilians – none more so than the government of Syria, which continues to barrel bomb neighborhoods and systematically torture thousands of detainees”, he added. Of those, 21.3-million are refugees, and 10-million stateless. He said he has contacted various United Nations agencies and global aid organizations to make similar demands.
Ban, whose term ends on December 31, accused South Sudan’s feuding leaders of betraying their people.
The detailed list of who pledged what has not been released, but a White House statement issued early in the evening stated that the cumulative commitments amounted to a $4.5bn increase over 2015 levels and participating countries “doubled the number of refugees they resettled or afforded other legal channels of admission”.
“Yes could we do more, potentially over time”.
“We are not as unified as we should be in pushing to make it stop”, he said, describing the global refugee crisis as both a humanitarian and security challenge that tests countries’ ability to take collective action.
“And those countries that are amongst the world’s worst abusers of refugee rights, such as Australia and European Union states, can not be allowed to tout small offers of help as a generous response to the crisis”.
The US is a major contributor of humanitarian aid for countries that host large numbers of refugees – particularly Syria’s neighbors – and plans to increase the number of refugees it will take in to America from 85,000 in 2016 to 110,000 next year.
In this connection, we welcome efforts by UNICEF and the worldwide community to establish Education Cannot Wait, the world’s first fund for education in emergencies and protracted crises, championing children’s right to access education in the most complex and risky environments. It will be led by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who hammered out the cease-fire agreement.
United States President Barack Obama has called for a second summit on the subject on Tuesday.
Background The UN General Assembly chose to convene a high-level plenary meeting on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants on the 19 September 2016 and requesting UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to prepare a report with recommendations on the issue.
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Though no new aid was announced at the time, Kerry emphasized the importance of additional efforts, saying that it is in the world’s “best interests – and it is right” to ensure the safety of those in need of refuge.
