Hungary to propose global refugee quotas at UN General Assembly, says Szijjarto

New York, September 28 (MTI) – Hungary will propose introducing global refugee quotas at the ongoing UN General Assembly session, so that global powers who “had a hand” in destabilising the Middle East and North Africa will also do their part in sharing the burden of illegal migrants, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told MTI in New York on Monday.

Szijjarto, who is scheduled to address the 70th session of the General Assembly on Saturday, said Europe had not faced as many challenges as it does today since the end of the second world war, adding that the migrant crisis is “probably” the most significant problem facing the world today.

“From our perspective it seems like only Europe is exposed to a large migration pressure because it is surrounded by unstable regions, which may lead to 30-35 million people flocking to our borders,” the minister said.

The minister noted that people living on humanitarian aid number 8 million in Iraq, 12 million in Syria and over 12 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa. He said the official number of Syrian refugees in Turkey is 2 million, with the actual number likely to be as high as 4-5 million.

Szijjarto said it would not be fair for Europe to shoulder the burden of migrants alone, as other global powers were also responsible for the decisions that rendered the surrounding regions unstable.

“We think the fair and responsible thing to do would be for everybody to do their fair share in handling the migrant crisis. This is what we will propose this week at the General Assembly,” Szijjarto said.

“We hope to draw as much support as we can,” he added.

Szijjarto will hold talks with a number of his international counterparts along with businessmen and will travel to Chicago, Illinois, to reopen the Hungarian consulate-general there. The minister is also scheduled to meet Jeffrey Feltman, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, and Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson as well as Republican presidential candidate and former New York Governor George Pataki.

Photo: MTI

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters