Miroslav Lajcak Quotes

European leaders cannot afford to be afraid. The refugee crisis is not one from which they can opt out. No magic wand will empower leaders to transport more than a million people back across the Aegean and the Bosphorus to Mosul and Aleppo, or across the Mediterranean to Eritrea, Somalia, and Sudan.

Syria's neighboring countries cannot and should not carry the cost of caring for refugees on their own. The international community must share the burden with them by providing economic aid, investing in development in those countries, and opening their own borders to desperate Syrian families looking for protection.

We can and must do our part to increase the number of Syrian refugees being resettled in the U.S.

We need to shift our focus from the debates about redistributing refugees within the E.U. and should concentrate more on external border protection.

Under Malcolm Fraser's Liberal governments in the 1970s, large numbers of refugees fleeing Vietnam in wretched boats were taken in without any great fuss.

Through the example of our own policies as well as leadership in international fora, the United States should work towards adoption of more effective policies to avert, respond to, and resolve refugee and related humanitarian crises.

We don't need to bring 100,000 refugees in from the Middle East.

The refugee crisis shows we can't be isolated from the world's geopolitical troubles.

No one is going to persuade me that eight people arriving in South Shields is going to overwhelm the local system. I think that 25,000 refugees would be more in line with the U.N. That would be a substantive contribution.

I wouldn't know the political solution to ending the conflict in those countries that refugees escape from. The only thing I know for sure, however, is that we need to help these people.

We should involve the whole world in the handling of this refugee crisis.

It is important that we return to the principles of the Dublin agreement and help Greece with European funds to accommodate refugees.

There are over 1 million refugees in Lebanon, a country of 4 million people. How do we solve that? I have no idea. What's going on, I really don't know.

While the war in Iraq was raging, I spent some time in neighbouring Jordan, meeting with Iraqi refugees who fled their country to try to find some place of safety. I interviewed many families about what had happened to them and what they did as a result.

Kosovo is too close to Europe. It is not only close to Albania, it is close to Greece, Italy, Germany and Switzerland, where there are still many Kosovo refugees. Spontaneous reactions could multiply.

We open our door, and we are still committed to open our door for our brothers in Syria. But doesn't mean that we should not keep alone. The international community should really - should really share Lebanon the numbers of refugees and share Lebanon the cost of their living.

Through both our admissions policies and, equally importantly, through our support for international protection and assistance, the United States leads the world in responding to refugee and related humanitarian crises.

I just want to encourage you all... to rethink the resettlement of refugees in this country, especially in the numbers I'm hearing.

The numbers that we can welcome to our own countries are relatively small in comparison to the millions that have been displaced, but it's vital because it sets an example.

I'll work to ensure that every single refugee who seeks asylum in the United States has a fair chance to tell his or her story. This is the least we can offer people fleeing persecution and devastation.

I'm the spokesperson for the Multifaith Alliance for Syrian Refugees. My father was from Syria. It's an American initiative, and it's multi-faith. So, it's maybe 60-65 different organisations, Jews, Christians, Hindus... Anyway, it's very important and serious.

We want to build a flagship refugee home. And I'm going to establish a charity for traumatized children.

As governor, my chief responsibility is to keep our state and people safe, which is why I have decided to oppose Arkansas being used as a relocation center for Syrian refugees.

I lived in an atmosphere where Mama brought 60 Basque refugee children to England during the Spanish Civil War in the 1930s.

We need to hit pause, and possibly reset, as we think about this whole Syrian refugee resettlement issue.