World leaders have ‘shirked, not shared’ responsibility on refugee crisis
14 September 2016
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had proposed a Global Compact on Refugees that would have asked governments to commit to welcoming 10% of the world’s refugees annually.
However, member states stripped the UN proposals of any substance, making sure there was nothing obligating them to take in specific numbers of people.
The Global Compact on Refugees will now not be agreed before 2018. Instead, states will issue the “New York Declaration” with token commitments but bereft of concrete responsibility-sharing measures.
“We have waited two years for this summit. World leaders should be announcing clear and concrete steps towards ending the refugee crisis. The UN had initially proposed an ambitious plan, but the European Union, Russia and China were among those who sacrificed refugees’ rights for national self-interest and missed a massive opportunity to back a global solution to the crisis,” said Salil Shetty.
“Instead of sharing responsibility, world leaders shirked it. The UN summit has been sabotaged by states acting in self-interest, leaving millions of refugees in dire situations around the world on the edge of a precipice.”
“But governments should not be under the illusion that this lets them off the hook. UN member states have both a moral and a legal duty to welcome the refugees who need help today.”
The day after the watered-down UN document is adopted, President Obama will host a Leaders’ Summit in New York on 20 September designed to secure specific commitments from member states to offer safe and legal routes to refugees – something most of them have so far failed to do. He will also call on leaders to donate money to assist refugees.
Amnesty International is calling on governments, particularly from wealthier countries, to urgently make commitments to resettle significantly more refugees and provide them with legal ways to find safety, whether at the Obama Leaders’ Summit or in the weeks to come.