UN officials, humanitarian and business groups are meeting in Geneva on December 13 to seek solutions to address an unprecedented migrant crisis amid opposition to Western opinion that highlights refugees as a threat.
114 million people across the world have been forced to flee their homes, including some 40 million refugees escaping heated conflicts, such as in Sudan and Ukraine. UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, stated many Western politicians were becoming less hospitable when facing this serious issue.
“It’s very easy to say: ‘Be careful. These people are coming. They steal your jobs, they threaten your security, your values, and then gain votes like that. You will not get rid of the problem. The problem will remain and you will have done something wrong. The right thing is more complicated, less easy to explain to public opinion … but it can be done. Systems can be improved; integration can be strengthened.”
Without giving names, he referred to Britain’s plans to deport migrants to Rwanda, calling them “all wrong.”
Every four years, UNHCR hosts the Global Refugee Forum as part of its framework for equitable refugee responsibility. More than 4,000 people, including eight heads of state and some 30 foreign ministers, attend the meeting in Geneva, with refugees representing about 10 per cent of the participants.
Arafat Jamal, UNHCR event coordinator, stated that some of the goals were to ease pressure on hosting communities, increase refugee self-reliance and create conditions for voluntary return to home countries.
It’s all very well to celebrate the refugee and to compensate countries that are hosting them, but far better it is to find a solution.
Within three days, participants are expected to deliver statements on specific issues like education, as only 60 per cent of refugee children are attending school.
Grandi voiced hope that funding commitments would also be announced for the UN agency, which faced a $400 million deficit for 2023. He cited “great uncertainty” over how much UNHCR’s main donors, the United States and Germany, could provide in 2024.
He hoped the event would also draw attention to forgotten crises such as Sudan, from which more than 1.1 million people had already fled this year amid reports of war crimes by warring parties.
