Humanitarian Issue Quotes

We are not directly involved in Syria. But we will be working with our partners in the European Union and at the United Nations to see if we can persuade the Syrian authorities to go, as I say, more in that direction of respect for democracy and human rights.

When we talk about famine, people start listing, as I have, its many different elements. We must not let the complexity of the subject put us off. We must continue putting our efforts into prevention.

I was involved with the landmines before the Princess of Wales, and nobody gave a damn about people losing their limbs. It only became a success when she came along.

The tragic conditions at detention facilities are the result of an intense surge in migration across the border.

Accepting Syrian refugees into the United States is an emotional issue.

I state in no uncertain terms: An order to uproot an Arab village or a Jewish settlement violates the most basic of human rights... It's a difficult dilemma.

A rapidly expanding Syrian refugee policy could create conditions for domestic tragedy.

What mattered about Alan Kurdi's photograph was that it made Canadians very angry, and the Conservatives, Liberals and New Democrats ended up competing with each other over which party was offering the most generous refugee policy.

The Israelis haven't done anything to the Palestinians. They treated them with flowers and roses.

Members of Congress goes before the cameras telling us that the immigration situation is a humanitarian crises, and then they leave town [having a Congressional vacation]. In a crisis I do my job. They should be here in Washington doing their jobs.

In August 2012, the international community should have been far more determined in dealing with the Bashar Assad regime.

Quite clearly this is a human disaster of enormous proportions. We have tens and tens of thousands of displaced people across the United States,.

The quota idea is a good one, but there are two problems with it. The first is clear: A quota system would also require all European countries to be prepared to take refugees. And secondly: What happens when the quota has been filled? Would we then simply tell those who are threatened, sorry but we have to send you back?

I have long understood that climate change is not only an environmental issue - it is a humanitarian, economic, health, and justice issue as well.

The world is too little aware of the waste of life, limb and land which anti-personnel landmines are causing among some of the poorest people on earth.

It is very deplorable that North Korea still does not uphold human rights, which are universal values.

I am convinced that detentions of individuals for the sake of freeing our missing and captured men constitutes a vital interest of the state.

Abduction of Father Tom Uzhunnalil is a matter of grave concern for us.

I think Aleppo is a disaster, humanitarian-wise.

People don't like land mines, especially the survivors and the people who are living in the countries with them. They think they are cowardly, like we do, so I think it's down to the governments to actually just listen to the people and sign the treaty and get rid of all these things and there would be an end to it.

I simply cannot see how denying chemotherapy treatment for Palestinian children increases Israel's security or advances U.S. national interests.

Three-quarters of [Bashar Assad] country is displaced. It's in Jordan, it's in Lebanon, it's in Turkey, and in the desert. The threat is that those people in the desert and others could become the next acolytes of ISIL if we don't find a way to join together to go after ISIL.

As we have 250,000 Syrians murdered, slaughtered; millions running around the world, running for their lives. It's not working. We need to try something else. And that is not reckless.

Our national leaders tend to try to protect the national interest as they see it. They may screw up in that, but they at least see that as their role. In contrast, where issues of our national values are involved, which covers pretty much any humanitarian issue, they pretty much drop the ball.

The question of the protection of childhood [child labor legislation] is not a political one. It is not even an American question. It is just simply a humane problem in which all decent ... loving men and women should be deeply interested.