The solution for irregular migration consists of promoting the sustainable development

On 23 November 2015, the Permanent Representative of Romania to the United Nations, Ambassador Ion Jinga, delivered a statement during the plenary meeting of the General Assembly on global awareness of the tragedies of irregular migrants in the Mediterranean basin, with specific emphasis on Syrian asylum seekers. Referring to the statistical data provided by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCR) on the migrants and refugees – 60 million of refugees worldwide, 750 000 of which crossed the Mediterranean Sea in their way to Europe only during the first ten months of the year, resulting in 3 400 casualties – the Ambassador Jinga expressed his concern about the humanitarian dimension of the irregular migration of people coming from areas affected by military conflict, especially from Syria: “Mixed migratory waves coming to Europe, intensifying day by day, represent a challenge with social, political and economic implications. These challenges need to be managed in a coordinated manner, within a new global approach of migration, because no country can solve this international problem on its own, and this was more than clear in the Syrian case.” Recalling the recent high level meeting between the European Union and the African Union on migration, in La Valetta, he welcomed the perspective of an enhanced partnership between the EU and the African countries, stating that Romania advocated for a common response, where the African partners’ contribution was vital for stopping the irregular migration, for the adoption and implementation of the agreements on readmission, and for ensuring the legal framework for the development of respective countries. The Permanent Representative of Romania underlined the necessity of respecting refugees’ basic human rights, according to national legislations, with particular attention to the situation of women, children, and victims of trafficking and other abuses. He recalled Romania’s contribution to the activity of the UNHCR and the World Food Programme (WFP), and the bilateral humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees. In this context, he mentioned the Emergency Transit Centre in Timisoara, the first European facility of its kind at its establishment in 2008, which was transited by over 1700 refugees up to date. Welcoming the UN Secretary General’s announcements on the organization of an international conference of the humanitarian crisis in Syria, in February 2016, in London, and the New York Summit in September 2016 on immigrant and refugees, Dr. Ion Jinga stated that, on the long term, the solution to these problems consisted of promoting sustainable development: “In 2000, the number of those living in conflict areas represented 12% of the global population, today they represent 43%, and by 2013, the numbers are predicted to go as high as 70%. We need to stop this spiral. The long term solution for irregular migration and refugees do not consist in raising the number of donors, but in reducing the demand for assistance by recipient countries, and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development can make a difference in that regard.”.