UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched a global campaign against xenophobia, saying it would seek to “turn fear into hope” at a time when welcoming migrants and refugees has become a divisive issue.
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Speaking ahead of the meeting, the Prime Minister said: “Across the world today, we are seeing unprecedented levels of population movement and we need to work together to find a better response, which focuses our humanitarian efforts on those refugees in desperate need of protection and maintains public confidence in the economic benefits of legal and controlled migration”.
On Monday, the United Nations opened its first summit addressing the current refugee and migrant crisis.
The post is needed for “the vast majority of people who are driven from their homes within their own countries”, he said during a General Assembly event on refugees and migrants.
World leaders are grappling with the largest crisis of displaced persons since World War II, more than 65 million people who have fled their homes because of armed conflict or persecution, or because they are seeking asylum or a better way of life.
As well as speaking at the United Nations event, chaired by secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, Mrs May will also take part in a summit on refugees hosted by U.S. president Barack Obama on Tuesday.
Global refugees: Is the world failing?
In Europe, which has received one million refugees in less than a year, officials have warned that they are now focusing on protecting their borders and on giving more financial aid to African countries to stem Europe-bound migration.
Blaming “an epidemic of amnesia”, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, delivered a harsh rebuke on the sluggishness of global response. “There will be no repeat of the year 2015 with more than 1 and a half million irregular migrants”.
As for policy, the declaration offers no concrete commitments and is not legally binding but rather calls on countries to protect refugees’ human rights, boost humanitarian aid and increase resettlement of refugees.
Philippe Bolopion, deputy director of global advocacy for Human Rights Watch, said: “I would say if you measure this document what is at stake here, it certainly falls short of the mark”.
HRW issued a statement calling the declaration a “missed opportunity”.
He added that this United Nations summit is an occasion to highlight the Moroccan multidimensional policy, adding that the protection of the dignity and the basic rights of refugees and migrants are at the heart of the approach set up by the Kingdom.
Civil society groups remain unimpressed by the language of the declaration.
“It’s going to take more than John Key to resolve Syria. all the parties, and there are many parties, still believe they can win the war”. “Japan will continue to play a leading role to bring solutions to the refugee and migrant issues by collaborating closely with the worldwide community”, he said.
Tusk also pledged to provide support to countries that are hosting large numbers of refugees, such as Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, and countries in the Western Balkans-a signal that the EU’s priority is to keep migrants and refugees out of Europe.
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It remains to be seen what the United Nations member states manage to agree upon and implement by 2018 – and if it will constitute a strident enough response.
