UN General Assembly Hosts Refugee, Migrant Summit on Monday

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Summit for Refugees and Migrants, taking place on the sidelines of the 71st UN General Assembly session, will become the assembly's first event at a heads of state level dealing with the issue of large refugee and migrant movement.

Over recent years, the world has experienced record levels of migration and forced displacement. Between 2005 and 2015, the world's war refugee population grew from 37 million to 65.3 million due to rising violence in the Middle East and North Africa, according to UN figures. Cross-border refugees numbered some 13.7 million in 2014, with the number projected to rise to 16.4 million by 2017, according the UN Refugee Agency.

Europe has become a major destination for international migrants, causing a massive refugee crisis in the European Union. Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing conflict-torn countries have made Europe their destination, with the EU border agency Frontex recording more than 1.8 million illegal border crossings into the bloc in 2015.

Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon have also gained top spots as refugee destinations amid the ongoing civil war in Syria. The three countries are now hosting a third of the world's cross-border refugees, with Syria topping the list of countries with the highest share of their populations displaced.

SOLUTION BLUEPRINT

Monday's summit will seek to outline an international response to the problem, according to the summit's website.

"This is the first time the General Assembly has called for a summit at the Heads of State and Government level on large movements of refugees and migrants and it is a historic opportunity to come up with a blueprint for a better international response," the United Nations said.

Summit participants will gain the opportunity to strengthen global control over migration flows, with the blueprint aiming to devise a system which places more emphasis on responsibility and predictability.

The summit comes after the UN secretary general's May report titled "In Safety and Dignity: Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants," which called for a new comprehensive framework to be set up to deal with migration.

PARTICIPANTS

Taking place at the UN headquarters in New York, the summit will be attended by heads of states and governments as well as ministers, UN officials, civil society, private sector, international organizations and academic representatives, according the the organizers.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi, World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, International Organization for Migration Director General William Swing and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein will be among those speaking at the opening ceremony.

DISCUSSIONS

The opening ceremony will be followed by several plenary sessions and roundtable discussions. Discussion topics will include dealing with the root causes of refugee movements, assessing the positive side of migration, future international cooperation on the problem, responsibilities under international law and migrants' vulnerability while reaching their destinations.

The issues of human rights and implementing the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development will also be touched upon.

WORLD LEADERS SUMMIT

The event also anticipates the world leaders' summit on refugees, which will be hosted by US President Barack Obama the following day, also on the sidelines of the General Assembly.

Co-hosted by Canada, Ethiopia, Germany, Jordan, Mexico and Sweden, the summit will appeal to the world's governments to step up their commitments to resolving the refugee problem.