The number of people fleeing their homes because of war, violence and persecution has reached 114 million and is climbing because nations have failed to tackle the causes and combatants are refusing to comply with international law, the UN refugee chief said Thursday.
In a hard-hitting speech, Filippo Grandi criticized the UN Security Council, which is charged with maintaining international peace and security, for failing to use its voice to try to resolve conflicts from Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan to Congo, Myanmar and many other places.
He also accused unnamed countries of making 바카라short-sighted foreign policy decisions, often founded on double standards, with lip service paid to compliance with the law, but little muscle flexed from the council to actually uphold it and 바카라 with it 바카라 peace and security.바카라
Grandi said non-compliance with international humanitarian law means that 바카라parties to conflicts 바카라 increasingly everywhere, almost all of them 바카라 have stopped respecting the laws of war,바카라 though some pretend to do so.
The result is more civilian deaths, sexual violence is used as a weapons of war, hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure are attacked and destroyed, and humanitarian workers become targets, he said.
Calling himself a frustrated humanitarian and looking directly at the 15 council members, Grandi said that instead of using its voice, 바카라the council's cacophony has meant that you have instead continued to preside over a broader cacophony of chaos around the world.바카라
The high commissioner for refugees told the council it's too late for the tens of thousands who have been killed in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and other conflicts.
바카라But it is not too late to put your focus and energy on the crises and conflicts that remain unresolved, so that they are not allowed to fester and explode again,바카라 Grandi said. 바카라It is not too late to step up help for the millions who have been forcibly displaced to return home voluntarily, in safety and with dignity.바카라
It's also not too late to save millions of people from the scourge of war, the refugee chief said.
But the Security Council is increasingly polarized, and its five veto-wielding permanent members are at odds, with the US, Britain and France often strongly opposed to the views of Russia and China.
On the Gaza war, the council has not called for a cease-fire because of opposition from the United States, Israel's closest ally. And on Ukraine, the council has been ineffective as Russia, a key party to the conflict after Moscow invaded its smaller neighbor in February 2022, would veto almost any resolution.
Grandi called what's happened in Gaza since Hamas' surprise attack on Oct 7 and the 바카라atrocious바카라 recent events in the southern city of Rafah after an Israeli airstrike led to a deadly fire at a camp for displaced Palestinians an example of the 바카라brutal conduct of hostilities meant not only to destroy but also to terrify civilians,바카라 who increasingly more often have no choice but to flee.
He said Gaza is also 바카라a tragic reminder of what happens when conflicts (and by extension a refugee crisis) are left unattended바카라 for decades. He also pointed to Syria where after 13 years of conflict, 5.6 million Syrian refugees remain in neighbouring countries including Lebanon and Jordan which also host Palestinian refugees.
Grandi said violations of international law, including forcing people to flee, are having a devastating effect on people around the world.
For example, in Myanmar, more than 1.5 million people have been displaced by fighting since October, bringing the total to over 3 million, 바카라with many trying to seek refuge in neighbouring countries,바카라 he said.
In Ukraine, international humanitarian law is violated every day with Russian attacks on the country's power networks, houses and other civilian infrastructure, he said.
And in Congo, Grandi said, 바카라violence between men with guns is so common that no other place on Earth is as dangerous for women and children than the east of that country.바카라
바카라But how can members of the United Nations, how can `we the peoples' pay so little attention and have so much inaction in a place where sex with a child can be bought for less than a cold drink?바카라 the refugee chief asked.
바카라What a shameful stain on humanity!바카라 Grandi said.
