Orban addresses UN General Assembly on migration

New York (MTI) – The obstacle to finding a solution to the current migration crisis was a lack of consensus on “the nature of the challenge”, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said.

Addressing the United Nation’s General Assembly in New York on Wednesday afternoon, local time, Orban said the crisis was not a “refugee crisis”, but a “mass migratory movement”, made up of economic migrants, refugees, asylum-seekers and also “foreign fighters”.

Orban said while estimates of the size of the migrant movements were in a vast range, it was clear that Europe cannot carry the burden alone and would soon be “destabilised” unless the burden was shared at a global level. Orban called for negotiations with “all major stakeholders of international politics” on a “global quota system” which would distribute migrants to all countries.

Orban said Hungary felt compassion for people forced to leave their homes and saw them as victims of poor governance and “failed international political decisions” which had led to war. He added they were also victims of bad European policy and human trafficking.

“It is our moral responsibility to give back these people their homes and their country. It cannot be our objective to provide them with a new European life. We must assist them to regain their own life in their home. To achieve this, we have to create peace and a plan of economic development in their home countries,” he said.

Orban noted that Christians reject anti-Muslim policy and sentiment. He underlined that the Muslim faith was not responsible for the causes of the migration wave and asked everyone to help stop the spread of anti-Muslim sentiment.

Orban ended his speech by making a reference to Sustainable Development Goals adopted in the UN last week. He said: “migration must be orderly, safe, regulated and responsible.”

Photo: MTI

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