UNITED NATIONS — The number of people fleeing their homes because of war, violence and persecution has reached 114 million and is rising because nations have failed to address the causes and combatants refuse to comply with international law, the chief said Thursday. of UN refugees.
In a scathing speech, Filippo Grandi criticized the UN Security Council, charged with maintaining international peace and security, for failing to use its voice to try to resolve conflicts from Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan to Congo, Myanmar and many other places. . .
He also accused unnamed countries of making “short-sighted foreign policy decisions, often based on double standards, with false statements about compliance with the law but little muscle flexing on the part of the council to actually defend it and – with it – the peace and security.”
Grandi said that failure to comply with international humanitarian law means that “the parties to the conflict – increasingly everywhere, almost all of them – have stopped respecting the laws of war”, although some intend to do so.
The result is more civilian deaths, sexual violence is used as a weapon of war, hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure are attacked and destroyed, and aid workers become targets, he said.
Calling himself a frustrated humanitarian and looking directly at the 15 board members, Grandi said that rather than using his voice, “the cacophony of the board meant that you continued to preside over a broader cacophony of chaos in Worldwide”.
The high commissioner for refugees told the council it is too late for the tens of thousands of people who have been killed in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan and other conflicts.
“But it is not too late to put focus and energy on the crises and conflicts that remain unresolved, so that they cannot fester and explode again,” Grandi said. “It is not too late to step up assistance to the millions of people who have been forcibly displaced so that they return home voluntarily, safely and with dignity.”
It is also not too late to save millions of people from the scourge of war, the refugee chief said.
But the Security Council is increasingly polarized, and its five veto-wielding permanent members are at odds, with the US, Britain and France often strongly opposing the views of Russia and China.
In the Gaza war, the Council did not call for a ceasefire due to opposition from the United States, Israel’s closest ally. And when it comes to Ukraine, the council has been ineffective, as Russia, a key party to the conflict after Moscow invaded its smaller neighbor in February 2022, would veto almost any resolution.
Grandi called what has happened in Gaza since Hamas’ surprise attack on Oct. 7 and recent events in the southern city of Rafah, after an Israeli airstrike led to a deadly fire at a camp for displaced Palestinians, “atrocious.” an example of the “brutal conduct of hostilities designed not only to destroy but also to terrorize civilians”, who increasingly have no choice but to flee.
He said Gaza is also “a tragic reminder of what happens when conflicts (and, by extension, a refugee crisis) are left aside” for decades. He also pointed to Syria, where after 13 years of conflict, 5.6 million Syrian refugees remain in neighboring countries, including Lebanon and Jordan, which also host Palestinian refugees.
Grandi said violations of international law, including forcing people to flee, are having a devastating effect on people around the world.
For example, in Myanmar, more than 1.5 million people have been displaced by fighting since October, bringing the total to more than 3 million, “with many people trying to seek refuge in neighboring countries,” he said.
In Ukraine, international humanitarian law is violated every day with Russian attacks on the country’s power grids, homes and other civilian infrastructure, he said.
And in Congo, Grandi said, “violence between armed men is so common that no other place on Earth is as dangerous for women and children as the east of that country.”
“But how can the members of the United Nations, how can ‘we the people’ pay so little attention and have so much inaction in a place where sex with a child can be bought for less than a cold drink?” asked the head of the refugees.
“What a shameful stain on humanity!” Grandi said.
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
