UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres has called on the 27 countries of the European Union (EU) to set a positive example in the area of refugee protection.
In a lively debate on Wednesday with members of the European Parliament, Guterres said that in the EU, where internal borders have largely disappeared, people who seek protection should be able to find it wherever they apply for it.
EU countries must do more to align their asylum systems, he stressed.
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The High Commissioner also invited the EU to promote a stronger and more cohesive international response to new forms of forced displacement, including population movements caused by climate change and natural disasters.
Guterres’ comments, days after he was elected by the UN General Assembly to a second five-year term as head of UNHCR, came during a joint session of the European Parliament’s committees of justice and home affairs; development; and human rights. It was his first address to the parliament that took office last September and whose members represent some 490 million people.
