05 Apr 2011 18:19
Somali refugees who recently arrived at the Dagahaley camp assemble a makeshift shelter, in Dadaab, near the Kenya-Somalia border, April 3, 2011. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya
GENEVA (AlertNet) - Poor countries bordering Libya, Ivory Coast and Somalia have taken in hundreds of thousands of people fleeing conflicts, a refreshing attitude in a world often marked by xenophobia, the U.N. refugee boss said on Tuesday.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres also paid tribute to Italy and Malta for sheltering economic migrants and refugees leaving Libya aboard rickety boats and urged other European countries to share the burden.
He was speaking upon return from whirlwind tours that took him to Liberia, Egypt, Tunisia and Kenya in less than a month as his agency struggles to cope with dramatic refugee crises.
"In Liberia, and in Egypt and Tunisia, I have seen people opening not only the border, but opening their hearts and their pockets in a way that I think is a lesson in today's world where we see so many demonstrations of populism, xenophobia and rejection of foreigners," Guterres told a news briefing.
"They show that in today's world there is still a number of very generous countries that go on keeping their borders open with massive inflows of people in need of protection," he said.
This was "heartening" for the former prime minister of Portugal who took up the U.N. post in June 2005. He could not recall a period of such "enormous pressure" on the UNHCR.
More than 439,000 people fleeing fighting between government forces and rebels in Libya have crossed mainly into Tunisia and Egypt, two countries grappling with their own democratic transitions and huge economic challenges, he said.Continued
No comments:
Post a Comment