16 July 2015
UN High Commissioner for Refugees: ‘Europe has a clear responsibility to help those seeking protection from war and persecution’
UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres said: ‘As Europe debates the best way to deal with the rising crisis on the Mediterranean, we must be clear: most of the people arriving by sea in Europe are refugees, seeking protection from war and persecution.
He continued: ‘Europe has a clear responsibility to help those seeking protection from war and persecution … To deny that responsibility is to threaten the very building blocks of the humanitarian system Europe worked so hard to build. European countries must shoulder their fair share in responding to the refugee crisis, at home and abroad.’