U.N. says refugee crisis cannot be solved by 'closing the door'
'Ending the crisis requires addressing the root causes — conflicts, human rights challenges and economic despair'
A U.N. human rights official says the refugee and migrant crisis can't be solved "just by closing the door" and declaring war on smugglers and traffickers.
"Those desperate people will go through windows if you close the doors," the assistant secretary-general for human rights, Ivan Simonovic, told reporters at U.N. headquarters.
He says ending the crisis requires addressing the root causes — conflicts, human rights challenges and economic despair — that lead people to flee.
Simonovic says 86 percent of refugees are in developing countries, with the highest numbers in Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Kenya. The countries are so "saturated" that Europe "sees them at their doorstep."
He isn't opposed to going after smugglers, but he warns that arresting them will raise the risks for refugees and the prices they will have to pay to reach Europe.
Also Read
-
Toddler death: Canada notices a crisis it chose to ignore
The government of PM Stephen Harper hunkered down to recalibrate its public stance on the refugee crisis Features -
WILL THE WORLD PAY ATTENTION NOW?
Aylan Kurdi's death has sparked global reactions on the Mediterranean migrant crisis Middle East -
EU migrant crisis: Enough rhetoric, time for solutions
When peace comes to Syria, those who have fled to neighboring countries are far more likely to return home than those who have made it to Europe Middle East -
New deaths in Mediterranean migrant crisis
At least 37 people drowned off Libya’s coast in the second such fatal accident in days Middle East -
Lorry of migrant corpses intensifies Europe’s crisis
As many as 50 corpses were found in a parked truck in Austria on Thursday, and another migrant boat sank off Libya, deepening a crisis that is ... Reports -
Interactive: Mapping the EU migrant crisis
A record number of people are fleeing violence and poverty in countries such as Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea Features -
British Jewish group ‘appalled’ by anti-migrant panic
A Jewish group has criticized Britain’s response to the migrant crisis, recalling that Jews were once the focus of an immigration scare World News -
Migrant crisis alarms Britain … but fears clash with facts
They are not flocking to places like Leysdown-on-Sea, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the migrant camps at Calais Features
