UN must ramp up aid for refugees: John Kerry
US Secretary of State John Kerry
called Friday for a 30-percent increase in humanitarian funding from the
United Nations for refugees.
Kerry said in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that the US wanted to "increase by 30 percent the response to UN humanitarian funding appeals".
The State Department said that this call would amount to an increase in international humanitarian aid for refugees from $10 billion (€9.2 billion) in 2015 to $13 billion in 2016.
Kerry said President Barack Obama would host a summit on refugees at the UN General Assembly in New York later this year.
"This summit will be the culmination of a sustained, rigorous effort to rally the world community on several fronts," Kerry said.
The US was also seeking to persuade 10 more countries to take in refugees, he said, without saying which countries they were.
Kerry's comments came two days after German President Joachim Gauck said limiting Europe's refugee influx was "morally and politically necessary".
"Limits are not unethical: they help to maintain acceptance within society," Gauck told the world's political and economic elite gathered at the Swiss mountain resort.
"Without acceptance, a society is not open and not willing to take in refugees," said Gauck, noting that this was why EU leaders are battling to stem the continent's biggest migrant crisis since the Second World War.
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Kerry said in a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that the US wanted to "increase by 30 percent the response to UN humanitarian funding appeals".
The State Department said that this call would amount to an increase in international humanitarian aid for refugees from $10 billion (€9.2 billion) in 2015 to $13 billion in 2016.
Kerry said President Barack Obama would host a summit on refugees at the UN General Assembly in New York later this year.
"This summit will be the culmination of a sustained, rigorous effort to rally the world community on several fronts," Kerry said.
The US was also seeking to persuade 10 more countries to take in refugees, he said, without saying which countries they were.
Kerry's comments came two days after German President Joachim Gauck said limiting Europe's refugee influx was "morally and politically necessary".
"Limits are not unethical: they help to maintain acceptance within society," Gauck told the world's political and economic elite gathered at the Swiss mountain resort.
"Without acceptance, a society is not open and not willing to take in refugees," said Gauck, noting that this was why EU leaders are battling to stem the continent's biggest migrant crisis since the Second World War.
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