World leaders adopt plan to protect migrants

World leaders have adopted the New York Declaration which articulates their political will to protect the rights of refugees and migrants, to save lives and share responsibility for large movements across the global.

The United Nation’s media office said yesterday that the leaders adopted the declaration at the opening of the United Nations General Assembly’s summit for refugees and migrants yesterday in New York, United States.

The declaration, according to the statement, contains bold commitments both to address current issues and to prepare the world for future challenges, including starting negotiations leading to an international conference and the adoption of a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration in 2018.

The world leaders, the statement said, are committed to protecting the human rights of all refugees and migrants, regardless of status, ensuring that all migrant children receive education within a few months of arrival as well as preventing and responding to sexual and gender-based violence.

The declaration, among others, also contains support for countries rescuing and hosting large numbers of migrants, work towards ending the practice of detaining children for the purpose of determining their migration status and finding new homes for all refugees identified by the UN refugee agency.

The statement quoted the UN SecretaryGeneral, Mr. Ban Kimoon, as saying that the adoption of the declaration would mean that more children can attend school, more workers can securely seek jobs abroad and more people will have real choices about whether to move at the end of conflicts, sustain peace and increase opportunities at home.