Antonio Guterres: This is a defining moment for the European Union, an...

We can't deter people fleeing for their lives. They will come. The choice we have is how well we manage their arrival, and how humanely.

Antonio Guterres

choices humanity people

While every refugee's story is different and their anguish personal, they all share a common thread of uncommon courage - the courage not only to survive, but to persevere and rebuild their shattered lives.

Antonio Guterres

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We need to be able to demonstrate that what we do in today's world, in humanitarian aid, the enormous effort to minimize the tragic situations that we see all over the world, I think, without the U.N., people would suffer much more, and the situation would be much more terrible.

Antonio Guterres

effort people thinking

What I think it's important to recognize in today's world is that all of our societies are multiethnic, multi-religious and multicultural. And that is a positive thing. That's a richness, and also strength. But we also have to recognize that, for those societies to be harmonious, there is a lot of the investment that needs to be made in social cohesion and inclusivity. But the important thing to recognize, and particularly Europe, most of the terrorist attacks are not done by people that came from the outside. They are homegrown.

Antonio Guterres

important people thinking

Syria has become the great tragedy of this century - a disgraceful humanitarian calamity with suffering and displacement unparalleled in recent history.

Antonio Guterres

humanitarian tragedy suffering

...in the midst of migrants in search of a better life there are people in need of protection: refugees and asylum-seekers, women and children victims of trafficking...Many move simply to avoid dying of hunger. When leaving is not an option but a necessity, this is more than poverty.

Antonio Guterres

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The international community has to overcome its differences and find solutions to the conflicts of today in South Sudan, Syria, Central African Republic and elsewhere. Non-traditional donors need to step up alongside traditional donors. As many people are forcibly displaced today as the entire populations of medium-to-large countries such as Colombia or Spain, South Africa or South Korea.

Antonio Guterres

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Now, it's high time for all those that have an influence on the parties with the conflict to understand that it is in the interest of everybody to put an end to this conflict. But this kind of persuasion, this kind of intense pressure, I believe it's my duty to do, even if I recognize that the contradictions and the different perceptions of interest that exist are making it very difficult.

Antonio Guterres

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Thus, on this World Refugee Day, let us take time to recognize and draw inspiration from these ordinary people who have shown such extraordinary courage - the world's millions of refugees and displaced.

Antonio Guterres

inspiration ordinary people

When food becomes scarce, refugees often turn to desperate measures to feed themselves and their families. We are particularly worried about the health of the refugee population, domestic violence and refugees resorting to illegal employment or even to prostitution, just to put enough food on the table.

Antonio Guterres

desperate-measures domestic-violence worry

It is, for me, clear that the world needs a United States that is engaged in security issues, in development issues, in human rights issues. The contribution of the United States for global affairs is absolutely crucial. And the cooperation with the U.N. is very important from our perspective.

Antonio Guterres

perspective important world

I think that it's very important to have the United States' engagement in many situations we have around the world, be it in Syria, be it in the African context. The United States represents an important set of values, human rights, values related to freedom, to democracy. And so the foreign policy engagement of the United States is a very important guarantee that those values can be properly pursued.

Antonio Guterres

democracy important thinking

Nature is angry. And we fool ourselves if we think we can fool nature, because nature always strikes back, and around the world nature is striking back with fury, there is a cost to everything. But the biggest cost is doing nothing. The biggest cost is subsidising a dying fossil fuel industry, building more and more coal plants, and denying what is plain as day: that we are in a deep climate hole, and to get out we must first stop digging.

Antonio Guterres

environment

There couldnt be a more clear message, so, if there is an area where I believe Ive been doing publicly much more than many other leaders around the world (it) is this.

Antonio Guterres

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It is absolutely not true that Ive only done discreet diplomacy.

Antonio Guterres

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I condemn the increasing number of child casualties, which are often a result of attacks in densely populated areas and against civilian objects, including schools and hospitals.

Antonio Guterres

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Hate speech is spreading and public discourse is being coarsened, social media is being exploited as a platform for bigotry. We must all show solidarity in response to this dangerous upsurge in hatred.

Antonio Guterres

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So let us say it loud and clear, we will not give ground. We will not turn back. We will push back against the pushback. And we will keep pushing. For wholesale change. For rapid change ... our world needs, starting by addressing the imbalance in power relations.

Antonio Guterres

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And nationalist, populist and even austerity agendas are tearing social fabric aggravating inequality, splintering communities, curtailing womens rights and cutting vital services.

Antonio Guterres

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Trust in global governance is also fragile, multilateralism is under fire precisely when we need it most.

Antonio Guterres

politics

This is a defining moment for the European Union, and it now has no other choice but to mobilize full force around this crisis. The only way to solve this problem is for the Union and all member states to implement a common strategy, based on responsibility, solidarity and trust.