Tragic image of drowned father and child must propel prevention measures

(Press Release, For Immediate Release)

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is deeply shocked to see the heart-breaking photo of the drowned bodies of Oscar Alberto Martinez Ramirez and his 23-month-old daughter Valeria from El Salvador washed up on the banks of the Rio Grande. While the details remain uncertain, what is clear is that the circumstances that led to this tragedy are unacceptable. Less than four years after the world witnessed the lifeless body of a Syrian refugee toddler, Alan Kurdi, washed up on the shores of the Mediterranean, we are once again confronted with powerful visual evidence of people dying during their dangerous journeys across borders.

“The deaths of Oscar and Valeria represent a failure to address the violence and desperation pushing people to take journeys of danger for the prospect of a life in safety and dignity,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi said. “This is compounded by the absence of safe pathways for people to seek protection, leaving people with no other choice than to risk their lives.”

UNHCR continues to call on all countries in the region to take immediate and coordinated steps to prevent further tragedies like this from occurring. UNHCR has also offered proposals on ways to improve and strengthen processing of asylum-seekers in the United States, including conditions in detention. We remain ready to support all governments in the region in ensuring that any person in need of international protection receives it promptly and without obstruction.

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About UNHCR:

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) was established on 14 December 1950 by the United Nations General Assembly. The agency is mandated to lead and coordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee issues. It strives to ensure that everyone has the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another state, with the option to voluntarily return home when conditions are conducive for return, integrate locally or resettle to a third country. UNHCR has twice won the Nobel Peace Prize, in 1954 for its ground-breaking work in helping the refugees of Europe, and in 1981 for its worldwide assistance to refugees.