HIGHLIGHTS OF PRESS BRIEFING BY BRENDEN VARMA, SPOKESPERSON FOR GENERAL ASSEMBLY PRESIDENT MIROSLAV LAJČÁK

United Nations Headquarters, New York

28 November 2017

 

MIGRATION NEEDS A GLOBAL RESPONSE, PRESIDENT SAYS IN GENEVA

  • The President today delivered remarks to the 108th session of the Council of the International Organization for Migration in Geneva.
  • He said, “Migration is a global phenomenon. And a global phenomenon demands a global response, led by a global framework.”
  • He added that it was time for the United Nations to “lead the charge” in crafting such a response.
  • The President emphasized that, “We cannot measure migration only by laws, and policies, and regulations. It should instead be measured by the people it affects.”
  • While in Geneva, the President met with the Geneva Peacebuilding Platform and others involved in the recently concluded Geneva Peace Week.
  • That meeting focused on peace, conflict prevention and the High-level Meeting on Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace that he will convene in April next year at United Nations Headquarters.
  • The President is currently on a plane back to New York and will be back in the office tomorrow.

 

GLOBAL COMPACT ON MIGRATION TO BE THE FIRST EVER OF ITS KIND

  • In response to questions about migration, the Spokesperson said the President believed that migration was being dealt with in a national and reactive fashion throughout the world, but that it was now time for there to be a global response. There was currently no global understanding of migration, which was noteworthy as the phenomenon affected the entire world.
  • The Spokesperson added that the President, as part of his mandate for the 72nd session, had been tasked by the Member States with finalizing a global compact on safe, regular and orderly migration – the first ever of its kind.
  • The President recognized that migration was not a new concept. However, the way that it was happening was new – in part because of the world’s growing population and the changing role of technology.
  • Asked whether the President had any comments on “his own region”, which had “a lot of misgivings about migration,” the Spokesperson said the President kept emphasizing that migration was not just a regional but rather a global issue. It was important to the President to keep a global focus so that all Member States could eventually agree on how to deal with this phenomenon.
  • The President recognized that migration was an emotional topic that was handled differently by various countries and regions, but he felt that there needed to be some sort of common global understanding on what the phenomenon meant and how it should be addressed.
  • Asked how the President would facilitate agreement on this difficult topic at an international level, the Spokesperson said the work had already started. Over the past year, there had been national and regional consultations, as well as thematic discussions in places such as Geneva and New York. Next week in Mexico, there would be a stocktaking meeting that would sum up what had been discussed over the past year and bring together Member States and other actors to jointly shape a vision for the global compact.

 

PRESIDENT RECOGNIZES BANGLADESHI EXPERTISE ON ROHINGYA ISSUE

  • Asked for the President’s views on Bangladesh and the political and humanitarian challenges that it was facing, the Spokesperson said that it was not for the President to provide general evaluations of individual Member States.
  • At the same time, the Spokesperson added that the President had held a meeting with a delegation from Bangladesh on 25 October.
  • During that meeting, the President had recognized that Bangladesh was an important voice and had considerable knowledge and expertise on the Rohingya issue, given its understanding of the situation on the ground and the fact that it was hosting Rohingya refugees.

 

 

PRESIDENT DIDN’T ATTEND AWARD CEREMONY

  • The Spokesperson was asked if the President had attended an award ceremony entitled “Powering the Future We Want/UN DESA Energy Grant” on 21 November.
  • The Spokesperson replied that the President had not attended or participated in any way.