Geneva: The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, commended Jordan’s efforts, led by His Majesty King Abdullah, in hosting refugees.
Grandi gave his remarks at the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, co-convened by Jordan, Colombia, France, Japan and Uganda, and co-hosted by Switzerland and UNHCR.
“I would like of course to express much sincere gratitude to the co-convenors – Colombia, France, Japan, Jordan, and Uganda – for their leadership, guidance and diligence in preparing this Forum, but even more so for your steadfast solidarity with refugees over many years, as hosts or donors,” Grandi said.
He added “I would be remiss if I did not and most specially thank you, Your Majesty, not only for honouring us with your presence today and for your forthcoming Keynote Address, but also for the Hashemite Kingdom’s longstanding hospitality for refugees, which I have had the privilege to witness and admire for many years, in my own service to UNRWA and in my current capacity. Not jus
t those from Iraq and Syria in recent decades, but also Palestine refugees since 1948.”
“It is no coincidence that Jordan, Colombia and Uganda are co-convenors. They represent host countries – major host countries – which have – sometimes for decades, often with little outside support sheltered, protected, and helped refugees,” Grandi noted.
He went to say that the preamble to the 1951 Refugee Convention explicitly calls on international cooperation to alleviate, I quote, “unduly heavy burdens” represented by “the grant of asylum”.”
“One of my strongest messages to you today is precisely the following: we cannot overstate the role that host countries and communities play in saving lives, and we must never forget the price that they pay on behalf of us all as they deliver this global public good,” Grandi reiterated.
On Wednesday, His Majesty King Abdullah delivered the keynote address at the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, in which he reminded the international community that it cannot afford to ignore the
issue of refugees and the host countries.
Source: Jordan News Agency