United Nations Summit for Refugees and Migrants, New York, 19 September 2016

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Publication Date 19/09/2016
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The UN General Assembly hosted a high-level summit to address large movements of refugees and migrants in New York on the 19 September 2016, with the aim of bringing countries together behind a more humane and coordinated approach.

This is the first time the General Assembly had called for a summit at the Heads of State and Government level on large movements of refugees and migrants and it was seen as an opportunity to come up with a blueprint for a better international response. It was 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.

At the summit world leaders adopted the New York Declaration, which expressed their political will to protect the rights of refugees and migrants, to save lives and share responsibility for large movements on a global scale.

The New York Declaration contained bold commitments both to address current issues and to prepare the world for future challenges, including, to start negotiations leading to an international conference and the adoption of a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration in 2018, as well as, to:

+ Protect the human rights of all refugees and migrants, regardless of status. This includes the rights of women and girls and promoting their full, equal and meaningful participation in finding solutions;
+ Ensure that all refugee and migrant children are receiving education within a few months of arrival;
+ Prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence;
+ Support those countries rescuing, receiving and hosting large numbers of refugees and migrants:
+ Work towards ending the practice of detaining children for the purposes of determining their migration status;
+ Find new homes for all refugees identified by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as needing resettlement; and expand the opportunities for refugees to relocate to other countries through, for example, labour mobility or education schemes; and
+ Strengthen the global governance of migration by bringing the International Organization for Migration (IOM) into the UN system.

Source Link Link to Main Source http://refugeesmigrants.un.org/summit
Related Links
ICG: Commentary, 15./09.16: What’s Driving the Global Refugee Crisis? https://www.crisisgroup.org/global/what-s-driving-global-refugee-crisis
ESO: Information Guide: European Migration Challenges http://www.europeansources.info/record/information-guide-european-migration-challenges/
ESO: Background information: Meeting between the HR/VP Mogherini and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi http://www.europeansources.info/record/meeting-between-the-high-representative-for-foreign-policy-and-un-high-commissioner-for-refugees/
ESO: Background information: EU attends UN Summit on refugees and migrants and 71st United Nations General Assembly Ministerial week http://www.europeansources.info/record/eu-attends-un-summit-on-refugees-and-migrants-and-71st-united-nations-general-assembly-ministerial-week/
Chatham House: Video, 08.09.16: Chatham House Primer: What is a Refugee? https://www.chathamhouse.org/file/chatham-house-primer-what-refugee-1
Deutsche Welle, 16.09.16: 'We can manage refugee influx,' says UNHCR's director for Europe http://dw.com/p/1K3v8
UNHCR: News, 06.09.16: UN Summit seen as 'game changer' for refugee and migrant protection http://www.unhcr.org/uk/news/latest/2016/9/57ceb07e4/un-summit-game-changer-refugee-migrant-protection.html
UNHCR: News, 19.09.16: UN Summit seeks enhanced refugee, migrant protection http://www.unhcr.org/uk/news/editorial/2016/9/57dfa1734/un-summit-seeks-enhanced-refugee-migrant-protection.html
UN: News Cenre, 19.09.16: World leaders at UN summit adopt 'bold' plan to enhance protections for refugees and migrants http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=54948
IOM: Press Release, 19.09.16: Summit on Refugees and Migrants Begins as IOM Joins the United Nations https://www.iom.int/news/summit-refugees-and-migrants-begins-iom-joins-united-nations
UK: GOV.UK: Prime Minister's Office: News, 19.09.16: PM calls for a new global approach to respond to unmanaged migration https://www.gov.uk/government/news/pm-calls-for-a-new-global-approach-to-respond-to-unmanaged-migration
European Commission: DG Communication: RAPID: SPEECH/16/3121, 19.09.16: Remarks by Commissioner Dimitris Avramopolous at the round table on Addressing vulnerabilities of refugees and migrants on their journeys from their countries of origin to their countries of arrival at the UN Migration Summit http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-16-3121_en.htm
European Council: Speech, 19.09.16: Speech by President Donald Tusk at the UN summit for refugees and migrants http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/09/19-tusk-speech-at-un-summit-for-refugees-and-migrants/
EU: EEAS: Speech, 20.09.16: Speech by Federica Mogherini at the Roundtable 5 on Global Compact at the United Nations http://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/10081/speech-by-federica-mogherini-at-the-roundtable-5-on-global-compact-at-the-united-nations-_en
The Conversation, 19.09.16: World leaders lack the political courage to agree a fair global share of migration http://theconversation.com/world-leaders-lack-the-political-courage-to-agree-a-fair-global-share-of-migration-65679

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