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UNHCR Grandi Reax on US - 10 June 2024
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2:56
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MP4
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176.9 MB
This is an excerpt from a press conference by UN High Commissioner Filippo Grandi on UNHCR's Annual Report "Global Trends in Forced Displacement 2024".
The remainder of this press conference is under embargo until 13 June 2024 05:01 CEST.
Teleprompter
uh, thanks. Sha.
Uh, Lisa Schlei,
Voice of America.
Uh, Commissioner, you were talking about the issue of asylum in, uh,
the European Union. I'd like to have your comment
on, uh, the new Biden policy regarding immigration.
Uh uh, and, uh, tightening the bo the US borders,
um, against people who are fleeing from various countries
and in specific specifically what it does. Is it
it? It, uh, it sort of reduces the number of people who are able to apply for
asylum. Uh, is this in accordance with international refugee law?
I mean, if you if you arbitrarily or maybe deliberately, whatever it is,
decide that 2500 people can apply in one day and that,
uh, 2500 and one person the first person cannot apply.
Uh, is this all right?
Yeah. Uh, actually, you you must have seen our press release the last week. I.
I happened to be in Washington on that day myself. So
we we worked on that and put it out, and we said we we answered exactly your question.
Yeah, of course.
This, by the way, just for everybody's clarity. This applies to people that cross
the non official border crossing, not the official border crossing.
Those do not have limits, but
or have other criteria. But
for the non official, you have a kind of cap now.
I don't know exactly how they call it, but it's a kind of gap.
And of course we would say that
if when if when that is applied,
it will prevent some people that have the right to seek asylum from doing so.
So in that sense, it is a variance with refugee law.
I just want to say not to try to make this less serious because it is very serious.
I
just want to say, Remember that meanwhile,
lots of other people can have access to the territory in the United States.
Those crossing through the approved points,
those coming from through resettlement
very high figure. Their target this year is 125,000.
Those coming through the safe mobility offices and
different parole arrangements.
We are talking about hundreds of thousands of people,
so the US continues to be a generous country in terms of receiving people.
But of course, because it has a phenomenal challenge along the border,
they have now taken measures some of which we believe go
beyond what we would accept as in line with the law.
OK,
um any other