Staff Reporter :United Nation Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his grave concern about the loss of lives of refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean sea and Europe.”I am horrified and heartbroken at the latest loss of lives of refugees and migrants in the Mediterranean sea and Europe,” in a statement, he said on Friday.UN Secretary General said that he was shocked seeing the grim bodies of more than 70 people inside a truck abandoned near the Austrian border. “Reports indicate that many of the victims were Syrian asylum seekers, including children. Recent days have exposed more news of hundreds of refugees and migrants drowned in the sea,” Ban Ki-moon said. Early this year, I visited ‘search and rescue operations’ in the Mediterranean, the statement said. “The Mediterranean sea continues to be a death trap for refugees and migrants despite the concerted and commendable efforts of the joint European search and rescue operations saving thousands of lives,” the UN Secretary General said. He added that these repeated tragedies underscore the ruthlessness of smugglers and traffickers whose criminal activities extend from the Andaman Sea to the Mediterranean to the highways of Europe. “It also highlights the desperation of people seeking protection for a new life,” Ban Ki-moon said. He said, a large majority of people undertaking these arduous and dangerous journeys are refugees fleeing from places such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. “International law has stipulated and states have long recognized the right of refugees to protection and asylum.” The UN Secretary General said that considering asylum requests, states cannot make distinctions based on religion or other identity, nor can they force people to return to places from which they have fled if there is a well-founded fear of persecution or attack. “This is not only a matter of international law, it is also our duty as human beings” he said, commending those leaders and communities who have stepped up share our responsibilities and obligations. “But much more is required. I appeal to all governments involve to provide comprehensive responses, expand safe and legal channels of migration and to act with humanity, compassion and in accordance with their international obligations,” UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said. Let us also remember that the high number of refugees and migrants are a symptom of deeper problems – endless conflict, grave violations of human rights, tangible governance failures and harsh repression, he added. “The Syrian war, for example, has just been manifested on a roadside in the heart of Europe,” he said. Ban Ki-moon said on addition to upholding responsibilities, the international community must also show greater determination in resolving conflicts and other problems that leave people little choice but to flee. “The numbers of those displaced – more than 40,000 per day – will only rise. This is a human tragedy that requires a determined collective political response. It is a crisis of solidarity, not a crisis of numbers,” he said. “I am encouraged that these issues will be an area of focus and priority when world leaders gather at the United Nations headquarters in New York next month for the opening of the General Assembly.” “I am organizing a special meeting devoted to these global concerns on September 30,” he said.
