The UN refugee chief on Monday stated violence has turn into the defining characteristic of immediately’s world, criticizing the UN Security Council for failing to forestall and cease wars.
“This is a season of war. This is a time of crisis. From Sudan to Ukraine, from the Sahel to Myanmar, from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Haiti, violence has become the defining currency of our age,” Filippo Grandi, the UN excessive commissioner for refugees (UNHCR), instructed the Security Council.
“Preventing and stopping war — upholding peace and security — that is the Security Council’s mandate. That is your primary responsibility. And one that-you will forgive me for again saying it — this body has chronically failed to live up to. But please do not resign yourselves to the defeat of diplomacy,” he stated.
Grandi stated the norms of worldwide humanitarian legislation are being solid apart as simply as “the thousands of lives destroyed in the pursuit of supremacy.”
On Gaza, which Israel has minimize off from humanitarian support for practically two months, Grandi stated that whereas the UNHCR isn’t a part of the UN response there, “the situation of civilians there, which we thought could not get worse, is reaching new levels of desperation by the day.”
He additionally addressed the scenario in Syria, saying “for the first time in decades, there is a spark of hope, including for the millions of Syrians who remain displaced today, 4.5 million of them refugees in neighboring countries.”
“Whether they will stay in Syria or, tragically, move again-including to Europe and beyond-depends of course on the authorities, but also-very much-on your willingness to take risks,” he stated, calling on council members to ease sanctions, assist early restoration, and create circumstances for primary companies like safety, water, and electrical energy.
‘FATAL CONSEQUENCES’
Grandi warned of dwindling humanitarian support, saying “aid is stability” and that freezing or reducing support budgets “is already having fatal consequences on millions of lives.”
At the top of the council session, Grandi once more addressed the physique and raised the alarm about declining funding for humanitarian operations.
“I cannot emphasize more how dramatic the situation is in this very moment,” he stated, warning that the UNHCR is main “an internal effort which may conclude with the retrenchment of my organization to up to one-third of its capacity.”
“If the current trend continues in terms of freeze, in terms of cuts that unfortunately, many donor countries have announced, the humanitarian system will be gravely retrenched,” he stated.
“We will not be able to do more with less. But as I have said many times, we will do less with less. We are already doing less with less,” Grandi added, noting that UNHCR schooling and healthcare applications have already been minimize.
“You have been the refugee. You have welcomed those who sought refuge,” he stated. “Now you sit at this table, with the responsibility to end war, to bring peace. You must succeed.”
Source: www.anews.com.tr