Ban slams ‘offensive’ attempts to demonize refugees

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has denounced attempts aimed at demonizing refugees, calling on world leaders to accept more people from Syria, which has been gripped by a deadly crisis over the past five years.

He made the remarks during a one-day conference hosted by the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, in the city of Geneva on Wednesday, to step up efforts to relocate hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees.

Pointing to the economic benefits of letting in more refugees, the UN chief said, "Attempts to demonize them are not only offensive; they are factually incorrect," adding, "I call on leaders to counter fear-mongering with reassurance, and to fight inaccurate information with the truth."

UN wants all countries around the world to resettle nearly half a million Syrian refugees over the next three years, with Ban saying during the summit that the goal “demands an exponential increase in global solidarity.”

The UN chief further urged the participating officials of over 90 countries in the conference to provide the refugees with new pathways for admission including resettlement or humanitarian admission, family reunions, as well as labor or study opportunities.

Syria has been gripped by foreign-backed militancy since March 2011. According to a recent report by the Syrian Center for Policy Research, the crisis in the Arab country has claimed the lives of over 470,000 people and displaced nearly half of its pre-war population of about 23 million within or beyond its borders.

Countries surrounding Syria have shouldered the major part of the burden as Turkey is hosting some 2.7 million Syrians while Lebanon, which has a population of 4 million, has accepted one million official refugees and another one million Syrians who have not registered.

According to Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, if Europe was to let in the same percentage of refugees as Lebanon in comparison to its population, “it would have to take in 100 million refugees.”

On March 18, the EU and Ankara struck a deal aimed at stopping the flow of refugees to Europe in return for financial and political rewards for Ankara.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al Hussein has voiced concern over the deal, saying it could lead to "collective expulsions" of war-hit people in violation of international law.

Many blame major European powers for the exodus of refugees from their home countries, saying Western states’ policies have led to a surge in terrorism and wars, forcing more people out of their homes.

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