UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi today
urged governments and business leaders in the Asia-Pacific to show solidarity
with refugees in the region and share responsibility for protecting and finding
solutions for them.
 |
| Full Statement Page 1-2 |
Addressing ministers of 26 countries at the Seventh
Ministerial Conference of the Bali Process in Bali, Indonesia, Grandi appealed
for regional support for over 700,000 Rohingya refugees who have fled to
Bangladesh since August 2017, escaping violence and discrimination in Rakhine
State, Myanmar.
“I urge you to consider what support your governments
could pledge in solidarity with Bangladesh until solutions are found for
refugees,” he said. “But we need also to work towards comprehensive solutions
for the people of Rakhine State, so that they are not forced to move in the
first place.”
The Bali Process is a multilateral forum for 45
governments and four international organizations, including UNHCR, to discuss
issues relating to people smuggling, human trafficking, and related transnational
crime. In March 2016, the ministers of the Bali Process adopted the Bali
Declaration, agreeing on the need for a comprehensive regional approach based
on burden-sharing and collective responsibility.
 |
| Full Statement Page 2-2 |
In his address the High Commissioner recalled the
“ground-breaking” nature of the 2016 Declaration and urged governments to move
from consultation to action on the commitments they made in 2016. Ministers at
the Conference agreed to reaffirm those commitments, which include more
predictable disembarkation options and cooperating on search and rescue for
refugees and migrants in distress, and for root causes to be addressed by
resolving statelessness, investing in inclusive development, and expanding safe
pathways so that refugees and migrants have legal alternatives to dangerous
modes of travel.
Focusing on the Rohingya refugee crisis, the High
Commissioner asked member states of the Bali Process to consider how they could
help Bangladesh shoulder the responsibility of hosting over 900,000 refugees,
including those from previous waves of displacement. He also sought regional
support for Myanmar in implementing a Memorandum of Understanding it concluded
with UNHCR and UNDP in June to create conditions in Rakhine State conducive to
the voluntary and sustainable return of refugees. Such conditions, such as
freedom of movement and pathways to citizenship, are not yet in place.
The High Commissioner also addressed business leaders of
major corporations who attended the Conference as part of the Bali Process
Government and Business Forum, a public-private partnership to expand legal
labour migration and combat human trafficking.
“People forced to move can fall prey to modern slavery,
adding the insult of exploitation to the injury of exile,” he said. He appealed
to the business community to work with governments to provide employment and
other economic opportunities to refugees to prevent exploitation and achieve
sustainable solutions.
“There are now, more than ever, opportunities for
refugees in this region to contribute to their host communities, and for
governments and businesses in the region to invest in—and benefit from—resilience
in host countries and countries of origin,” Grandi said. “Only through this
kind of solidarity, in which each of us does our part, can we ensure that no
one in the region is abandoned, at sea or at home, and that no country in the
region is abandoned when it opens its doors to those in need.”
For more information on this topic, please contact:
In Jakarta, Mitra Suryono, suryono@unhcr.org, +62 818 157 962
In Bangkok, Keane Shum, shum@unhcr.org,
+66 92 275 2585
In Geneva, Andrej Mahecic, mahecic@unhcr.org, +41 79 642 9709
