Refugee Issue Quotes

There is no such thing as a Palestinian people... It is not as if we came and threw them out and took their country. They didn't exist.

Since 1948 we have been demanding the return of the refugees to their homes. But we ourselves are the ones who encouraged them to leave. Only a few months separated our call to them to leave and our appeal to the United Nations to resolve on their return.

If the refugees return to Israel, Israel will cease to exist.

Any one who speaks in favor of bringing the Arab refugees back must also say how he expects to take the responsibility for it, if he is interested in the state of Israel. It is better that things are stated clearly and plainly: We shall not let this happen.

The deplorable Syrian refugee crisis was created because Syrian President Bashar al-Assad started a war on his people, and the international community refused to confront him.

We do not wish and do not need to expel Arabs and take their places.

Israel was established as a homeland for the Jewish people and embraced all the Jews who had to leave Arab states. This should be also the true meaning of the future Palestinian state. It should be the answer for the Palestinians wherever they are - those who live in the territories, and those who are being kept as political cards in refugee camps.

The Arab countries … did little or nothing about the terrible refugee suffering of more than 50 years.

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

There is not one single place built in this country that did not have a former Arab population.

Most of the approaches to peace between Israel and the Palestinians, have been directed at trying to resolve the most complex problems, like refugees and Jerusalem, which is akin to building the pyramid from the top down.

The existence of these refugees is a direct result of the Arab States' opposition to the partition plan and the reconstitution of the State of Israel. The Arab states adopted this policy unanimously, and the responsibility of its results, therefore is theirs

I'm in total sympathy with Dick Smith's sentiments; I only wish there were grounds for saying we Australians would never tolerate such appalling treatment of refugees being carried out in our name.

The migrant question is directly linked to the crisis in Syria and Iraq.

Today three-quarters of the Palestinian people are displaced: there are 5 million Palestinian refugees throughout the world.

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

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

We understand what President Trump means when he talks about taking the country back. He does not see America as a country of people from diverse backgrounds united around values of freedom and respect. In his 'American carnage' version of our country, immigrants and refugees are a threat.

In the EU, we agree that the pressures causing migration must be reduced.

Now Europe are experiencing a wave of eroding solidarity, first of certain societies and then entire governments. At the same time, we have two giant new challenges to meet: the migration movement and terror. And then Great Britain is thinking about leaving the EU. That should suffice as a description.

Luckily, Europe, step by step, recognised that these mass refugee movements to Europe cannot work.

My commitment to refugees comes from a very personal place.

The unfolding migratory crisis has become one of the most acute challenges facing the international community. Millions of lives are at stake. All of us have a responsibility to act. Collectively, we need to find solutions.

What is the issue that has brought the European Union to the brink? The issue of migration.

We have a human rights interest. Then there is the immigration problem. The human-rights violations have caused people to take to boats and flood not only the United States, but other countries in the region, creating great instability.