I thank the President of the General Assembly for bringing us together today.

Not since the end of the Second World War have so many people – more than 60 million – been forcibly displaced around the world.

We face the challenge of saving lives and protecting the persecuted and the vulnerable – the children, women and men who have fled bombardment and death and unbearable conditions at home as well as those who are now falling prey to unscrupulous criminal traffickers. 

The recent horrific terrorist attacks in Paris as well as in Beirut, Baghdad, Ankara and other places have raised fundamental questions.  How can we better prevent terrorist attacks?  Which social, economic and political factors are causing people to unleash barbaric violence on innocent human beings? 

Also, how are we to balance security needs and moral and legal obligations to protect refugees and others in need of protection? 

This balance must be found without giving in on our basic values and without closing the door to those who have already endured tremendous suffering.

Those who flee this violence should not be punished twice – first by war or oppressive forces which persecute them at home.  And, second, by unjust, dangerous stigma which even shockingly associate the refugees with their attackers.  The refugees, if any, understand better than anyone the barbaric cruelty of violent extremism.

The recent terrorist attacks are urgent reminders of the need for migration and refugee flows to be managed properly and with respect for humanitarian and refugee law as well as for human rights. Our most effective response to these attacks is to stand even firmer in our humanistic and humanitarian resolve and ensure openness and protection to those in desperate need.

The gap between humanitarian needs and available funds has never been higher that it is today.

We simply do not have the resources to meet the needs of millions and millions of vulnerable people.

That is why the Secretary-General has established a High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing. Its recommendations should help us bridge the deadly gap between needs and funding.

Next year’s World Humanitarian Summit should catalyze efforts to shape the broader global humanitarian agenda, improve aid delivery and expand financing partnerships, including with the private sector.

I join the Secretary-General in commending the many individuals, communities and countries which have generously offered funds and protection.

We can all be inspired by the continued resilience of host communities to refugees – from Kenya, Ethiopia to Pakistan, from Iraq and Iran to Bangladesh, from Greece, Italy, Germany and Sweden to Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and beyond.

These are some of the countries taking on more than their share of a global responsibility.

It is time for the world to show greater solidarity and come together in a global compact to provide support, protection and asylum.

Let me admit that our current policies do not rise to the challenge before us.  The challenge will not be met by sealing borders, building fences, or taking a strict security approach to the movement of refugees and migrants.

Instead, we must expand safe and legal paths to safety that put middlemen and traffickers out of business. 

We need more and better reception centres and claims processing to receive people with the dignity they deserve.  We need creative solutions to find sufficient places of refuge – through resettlement, private sponsorship, humanitarian visas, family reunification and other means. 

This includes more opportunities for local integration and access for refugees to job markets.

History shows that migrants and refugees bring to their communities social, cultural and economic enrichment.  With open societies and economies, all countries will benefit.  Let us also remember the key role of remittances from migrants and refugees for development.

Raising awareness of these positive contributions and countering hateful and xenophobic speech is a moral duty, but also a matter of global economic and social growth.

We also need to focus on the causes of displacement – conflicts, human rights violations, marginalization and deprivation.

Let me say; prevention works.  I have seen the power of mediation. We need to invest more in cooling tensions before they erupt into full-blown crises.   The United Nations is continuing to address the dangerous and destabilizing conflicts.  We finally see a ray of hope for a political process for the nightmare in Syria.

The newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals can also help create better living conditions so that people have hope for the future in their home countries.  And let us not forget that they are also related to the search for peaceful, inclusive societies, strong institutions and respect for human rights.

Refugees and forcibly displaced people, as well as countries of first refuge, rightly expect the world to act.

Together, we must formulate a sustainable, collective and comprehensive solution.  This is in our common interest.

I have recently held talks with a number of European and African leaders at the Valletta Conference on Migration and refugees. I came away more convinced than ever that we must muster our political will to marshal national and regional efforts into global, coordinated action.

We need to develop a new global compact for human mobility based on fairly sharing responsibility.

The Secretary-General will present further proposals and ideas on this tomorrow.   In the meantime, we look forward to a productive debate this afternoon.