UNHCR criticises European countries for closing door to refugees
(VOVWORLD) - Filippo Grandi, the head of the UN Refugee Agency, criticized countries for closing their borders to desperate refugees, saying that their refusal to allow migrants to dock is creating a dangerous congestion at sea.
 Migrants are rescued in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Libya. (Photo: AFP/VNA) |
Addressing the opening session of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees’s annual Executive Committee meeting in Geneva on Monday, Grandi said migrants and refugees around the world are seeking opportunities for a better regardless of dangers.
While not minimizing the challenges this presents, Grandi said the solution cannot be to close the door.
He warned against “dangerous lines of thinking” that have emerged in some countries - including “externalizing” asylum beyond a country’s borders – that will “violate international law, put the lives of the most vulnerable in jeopardy, and constitute precedents which threaten asylum globally.”