20 January 2016 – Multiple conflicts
have resulted in the massive displacement of men, women and children around the
world in record numbers. Last year alone, more than one million refugees and
migrants crossed the Mediterranean to Europe. And yet, the arrivals in Europe
represent only a fraction of the world’s current 60 million refugees and
displaced people – the highest level since the end of the Second World War.
As UN High Commissioner for
Refugees, Filippo Grandi, heads the agency tasked with
protecting, assisting and finding solutions for refugees, internally displaced
people and stateless populations. A veteran UN official who was most recently
Commissioner-General of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees
in the Near East (UNRWA), Mr. Grandi spoke with
the UN
News Centre just
days after taking up his new post about his priorities, the critical shortfalls
in humanitarian funding and what motivates him to work with refugees.
I have worked with refugees since I was a young volunteer. I know the
pain of exile very well from having experienced it in many places.
UN
News Centre: You’ve just taken up your post as High Commissioner for Refugees.
Can you tell us what your priorities are going to be?
Filippo
Grandi: Forced
displacement of refugees, internally displaced people and other people seeking
refuge from war, human rights violations and other forms of hardship has become
a very central feature, unfortunately, of our world. The number of people of
concern to my office, to UNHCR, has multiplied and we’re now dealing
with 60 million, plus 10 million stateless women and men. And this is a
staggering figure, the highest that has existed since the Second World War. So
our priorities are really to ensure that all of these people enjoy protection
of their lives and rights, and that we are able to respond to numerous
emergencies, created mostly by war. And a very important priority, which is
enshrined in our mandate, is also to help States seek solutions for these
people.
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