UNHCR chief Guterres stresses need to fight human trafficking, protect victims
News Stories, 26 August 2015
© UNHCR/A. Lechat
UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres (right) greets French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve (left).
GENEVA, Aug 26 (UNHCR) – The UN refugee agency head António Guterres on Wednesday reiterated the need to protect refugees fleeing to Europe by ensuring they are protected from human traffickers and that a properly functioning system is created to allow them to apply for asylum legally.
At a joint press conference with French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve in Geneva, he said such a system would help replace the currently "dysfunctional" approach within the European Union to the handling of the influx of refugees to Europe.
"If we fight traffickers, protect victims and put in place a system to allow refugees to apply for asylum legally, we will succeed (in handling the crisis)," he said.
However, he added that the EU needed to "accelerate and intensify" efforts to resolve the crisis.
Cazeneuve briefed Guterres on important efforts and measures taken by the French and British governments regarding the migrants situation in Calais.
He stressed that France and Germany were committed to handling the current influx of refugees in a manner in keeping with their international obligations while fully respecting values such as responsibility and solidarity which lay at the heart of the creation of the European Union.
Guterres said funding for efforts to help Syrian refugees in the countries of first asylum, such as Lebanon and Turkey, was well below target, at some 41 per cent of current projected needs and called for an examination of new ways of financing the current situation as all humanitarian organisations were facing a shortfall.
By Jonathan Clayton, Geneva
over 4 million Syrians are now refugees
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Advocacy is a key element in UNHCR activities to protect people of concern.
António Guterres, who joined UNHCR on June 15, 2005, is the UN refugee agency's 10th High Commissioner.
Drifting Towards Italy
Every year, Europe's favourite summer playground - the Mediterranean Sea - turns into a graveyard as hundreds of men, women and children drown in a desperate bid to reach European Union (EU) countries.
The Italian island of Lampedusa is just 290 kilometres off the coast of Libya. In 2006, some 18,000 people crossed this perilous stretch of sea - mostly on inflatable dinghies fitted with an outboard engine. Some were seeking employment, others wanted to reunite with family members and still others were fleeing persecution, conflict or indiscriminate violence and had no choice but to leave through irregular routes in their search for safety.
Of those who made it to Lampedusa, some 6,000 claimed asylum. And nearly half of these were recognized as refugees or granted some form of protection by the Italian authorities.
In August 2007, the authorities in Lampedusa opened a new reception centre to ensure that people arriving by boat or rescued at sea are received in a dignified way and are provided with adequate accommodation and medical facilities.
Drifting Towards Italy
UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie meets Iraqi refugees in Syria
UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie returned to the Syrian capital Damascus on 2 October, 2009 to meet Iraqi refugees two years after her last visit. The award-winning American actress, accompanied by her partner Brad Pitt, took the opportunity to urge the international community not to forget the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi refugees who remain in exile despite a relative improvement in the security situation in their homeland. Jolie said most Iraqi refugees cannot return to Iraq in view of the severe trauma they experienced there, the uncertainty linked to the coming Iraqi elections, the security issues and the lack of basic services. They will need continued support from the international community, she said. The Goodwill Ambassador visited the homes of two vulnerable Iraqi families in the Jaramana district of southern Damascus. She was particularly moved during a meeting with a woman from a religious minority who told Jolie how she was physically abused and her son tortured after being abducted earlier this year in Iraq and held for days. They decided to flee to Syria, which has been a generous host to refugees.
UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie meets Iraqi refugees in Syria
George Dalaras
George Dalaras
Haunted by war, a Syrian family gets a new start in Canada
Single mother Abeer and her 6-year-old daughter Maryam struggled to overcome the aftermath of the massacre they witnessed in their hometown of Homs in Syria. But an unexpected phone call gave them a chance to start over in Canada, where they want to rebuild their shattered lives.
Hoping for a new life in Canada
A new humanitarian programme will see 25,000 Syrian refugees chosen and flown to Canada within the next few months. UNHCR is assisting in the process that will offer thousands a chance at a new life in a new country.
Greece: Coordinating volunteers on Lesvos
To help manage an influx of people arriving on the Greek Islands by boat, volunteer organizations and hundreds of individual volunteers have stepped in. One of UNHCR's roles on Lesvos is to work with the volunteers and coordinate their efforts.
