Check Against Delivery
19th September
We come together today - to deal with arguably the biggest challenge to face the world in this century: the relentless, recurring, long march across the globe of the dispossessed, the distraught, the destroyed. We know the reasons, the many reasons, starting with poverty, hunger and climate change. These are driving the mass migration of people as much, if not more, than conflict and violence. But conflict and violence, of course continue also to be primary causes of migration.
Indeed, we in Ireland understand from our own experience the forces that can push people to leave their homes for an uncertain future. During the 1960s, the population of my country was less than half what it had been in the early 1840s due to mass emigration that began in response to famine and continued virtually unabated for over a century because of poverty and lack of opportunity.
While we have a keen awareness of the cost to Ireland in terms of lost potential from this forced migration, we also understand the contributions that those who have left - and their descendants – have made to the countries where they now live as well as to their country of origin or ancestry.
This massive agonising challenge demands that the international community work together. Constantly. We must be as relentless as the challenge we face.
And - even more important - we must be on our guard, all day every day, lest the very scale of the problem turns our faces towards processes and numbers, and away from people. People must be at the heart of our approach. We must ensure a humane and dignified approach to international protection and must establish legal and safe pathways for migration.
We must work together to ensure that refugees and migrants find safety and that adequate resources are made available to those we are obligated to protect, to enable them to rebuild their lives.
Right now, the burden of hosting refugees is disproportionally borne by developing countries. A more equitable sharing of responsibilities is urgently needed. Ireland is willing to step up to the plate on this.
Ireland’s response to the current crisis has been two-pronged in nature. It has involved action at both national and international levels.
Ireland has had a successful national resettlement programme in place since 2000 which has resettled more than 1,500 people from 30 countries, providing housing, language training, medical assistance and integration opportunities. Turning specifically to our new Refugee Protection Programme, Ireland has committed to admit 4,000 people under that programme.
As part of our humanitarian response, our naval vessels have also been performing vital search and rescue missions in the Mediterranean Sea. They have rescued more than 10,000 people since the operation commenced in May 2015.
Our focus has also been on supporting international responses. We are strongly committed to using the foreign policy instruments at our disposal – political dialogue, development cooperation, humanitarian assistance – as part of our response. We have for instance worked actively to provide support to the UNHCR and other agencies charged with meeting the needs of refugees.
Equally important is the support that we provide to countries hosting large numbers of refugees and migrants.
Ireland has committed to providing multi-annual funding to the World Food Programme; some €60 million over the next three years, which is specifically targeted at refugees, particularly Syrian refugees. We encourage the international community to adopt multi-annual commitments in order to provide organisations such as the World Food Programme with greater certainty around their funding.
The international community has a collective responsibility to look at all of the options available to pursue a more long-term and sustainable strategy on this issue. Dialogue and cooperation with countries of origin and transit must be strengthened and operationalised.
Fundamentally, of course, the true solution to refugee movements is to end the instability, conflict and oppression which force people to leave their homelands. Women’s leadership can help to alleviate conflicts that have contributed to many of the refugee crises that we face. Ireland is a strong supporter of the women, peace and security agenda because peace processes that involve women at all levels have proven more durable and successful.
Today’s humanitarian challenge requires a global response. We must share the responsibility for finding and implementing solutions.
Ireland believes that the outcome document from today’s Summit sends a strong message of our political commitment to a wide range of actions which, taken together, will ensure a more humane and compassionate response in future to this issue.
Ireland stands ready to play its part in addressing this crisis. We know that more needs to be done. We are open to seeing what can be done in cooperation with others to end the suffering and the misery of so many people. I would like to congratulate Ireland’s Ambassador, David Donoghue, and his team and their Jordanian colleagues for their leadership as co-facilitators of this event. I would also like to thank the President of the General Assembly and the Secretary General for extending this invitation to Ireland.
ENDS
Note for Editors
Background Note on UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants – 19 September 2016
The UN General Assembly is today hosting a high-level summit to address large movements of refugees and migrants, with the aim of bringing countries together behind a more humane and coordinated approach.
This is the first time the General Assembly has called for a summit at the Heads of State and Government level on large movements of refugees and migrants and it is a historic opportunity to come up with a blueprint for a better international response. It is a watershed moment to strengthen governance of international migration and a unique opportunity for creating a more responsible, predictable system for responding to large movements of refugees and migrants.
A press release New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants adopted by all Member States at historic UN Summit can be accessed at
Who is organising?
The High Level summit is being organized by the President of the General Assembly on behalf of Member States.
In January 2016, the Secretary-General appointed a Special Adviser, Karen AbuZayd, to work with United Nations entities and undertake consultations with Member States and other relevant stakeholders in the lead up to the Summit. This will include overseeing the Secretary-General’s report on large movements of refugees and migrants, to be submitted to the General Assembly in May 2016.
In February 2016, the President of the General Assembly appointed H.E. Mrs. Dina Kawar, Permanent Representative of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and H.E. Mr. David Donoghue, Permanent Representative of Ireland as co-facilitators to lead open, transparent and inclusive consultations with Member States to finalise the organisational arrangements, including on a possible outcome, for the High level summit in September.
Further information re the background to the Summit can be found at http://refugeesmigrants.un.org/background-0
Participation
The Summit will be attended by heads of state and government, Ministers, and leaders from the UN System, civil society, private sector, international organizations, academia, and beyond in alignment with the General Assembly resolution establishing the summit’s modalities.
Is there a related event on 20 September 2016?
Also on the margins of the General Assembly, on 20 September 2016, the United States President Obama is hosting the Leaders' Summit on Refugees, alongside co-hosts Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, Jordan, Mexico and Sweden, which will appeal to governments to pledge significant new commitments on refugees.
The Tánaiste will participate as Ireland's representative at this event.
While the Leaders' Summit will focus on refugees, not migrants, the General Assembly High-Level Summit will address large movements of both. The two events will complement one another.