Support countries hosting refugees: UN chief

The communities or countries providing safe refuge to people fleeing war or persecution shouldn’t be alone and unsupported, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on the occasion of World Refugee Day.

“We stand together or we fail,” Guterres said in a video message adding “On World Refugee Day I ask you to remember them.”

He also urged the citizens of the world to remember those who were displaced as a result of conflict or persecution.

“As long as there are wars and persecution, there will be refugees” Guterres said.

He also expressed his concern over the refugees, “not receiving the protection they need and to which they are entitled”.

For everyone to do more to help the refugees, whose number has mounted to 68 million at present, solidarity and unity are key, Guterres reflected.

He also announced in his message that a Global Compact on refugees will be presented to the UN General Assembly this year which “offers a way forward and recognizes the contributions” of refugees to the society hosting them.

Meanwhile, the UN chief along with the high commissioner of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), the president of International Committee for Red Cross (ICRC) and World Bank Group President will visit Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh on June 30.

Source: thedailystar