Amnesty criticizes ‘shameful failure’ in refugee crisis handling

Amnesty International has strongly criticized world leaders for their “shameful failure” to alleviate the “unbearable” sufferings of tens of millions of refugees across the globe.

“People are losing their lives as they desperately seek safe haven,” the human rights group’s secretary general said on Monday.

“The current refugee crisis will not be solved unless the international community recognizes that it is a global problem…The refugee crisis is one of the defining challenges of the 21st century, but the response of the international community has been a shameful failure,” said Salil Shetty.

Amnesty International has published a report about the “worst refugee crisis since World War II” ahead of the World Refugee Day on June 20.

The report, titled The Global Refugee Crisis: A Conspiracy of Neglect, places a particular focus on the crisis in Syria.

Amnesty estimates that more than four million people have now fled Syria due to attacks by ISIL Takfiri terrorists. Ninety-five percent of the Syrian refugees are living in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt.

“We are witnessing the worst refugee crisis of our era, with millions of women, men and children struggling to survive amid brutal wars, networks of people traffickers and governments who pursue selfish political interests instead of showing basic human compassion,” Salil said at a press conference on Monday in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Shetty also advised European countries to stop turning their back on refugees who risk their lives crossing the Mediterranean Sea by boat.

“This is not a favor, it is enshrined in international law,” he said.

The report also cited refugee crises in Africa, where people are fleeing brutality and persecution.

It said in South Sudan, the Central African Republic (CAR), Nigeria and Burundi “hundreds of thousands” of refugee from these countries are currently living in Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other Sub-Saharan African countries.

“The world cannot wait any longer,” Shetti said.