British Prime Minister Theresa May, has called for a “better distinction between refugees and economic migrants.
May said in advance excerpts from her speech to a UN summit on migration on Monday, in New York, that the international community should build “a new, more effective global approach to manage migration.
She said that the move has become imperative because the UN summit has said that it is aimed at developing a more “comprehensive, predictable, systematic and equitable” approach to migration.
“We need to work together to find a better response, which focuses our humanitarian efforts on those refugees in desperate need of protection and maintains public confidence in the economic benefits of legal and controlled migration.
A report from her office noted that May would propose that UN member states adopt three guiding principles in negotiating new commitments for refugees and migrants, including a “better distinction between refugees and economic migrants.
It said failure to improve this distinction encourages more people to put their lives in the hands of criminal gangs and undertake dangerous journeys.
It said that May would also suggest that UN nations aim to “ensure that refugees claim asylum in the first safe country they reach, recognizing that the current trend of onward movement benefits criminal gangs.
Also to expose people to grave danger and reduces the prospects of them ever returning home to rebuild their countries.
She was quoted as saying that “All countries must have the right to control their borders and “the responsibility to manage borders to reduce onward flows of illegal and uncontrolled migration.
(Source: REUTERS/NAN)