EUROPE-MIGRANTS/UNHCR UNHCR urges countries taking in refugees to treat them in a "humane way"

Record ID: 140093

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/UNHCR UNHCR urges countries taking in refugees to treat them in a "humane way"
  • Date: 11th September 2015
  • Summary: GENEVA, SWITZERLAND (SEPTEMBER 11, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS EXTERIOR OF UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS VARIOUS OF U.N. HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR) SPOKESPERSON, WILLIAM SPINDLER, TALKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNHCR SPOKESPERSON, WILLIAM SPINDLER, SAYING: "Refugees who are coming to Europe, looking for protection who have already suffered so much and risked their lives to come here to find safety should be treated in a humane way, they should not be received with police batons and with tears gas and with barbed wire and with fences and walls. That is not the way we would expect refugees to be treated." SPINDLER TALKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNHCR SPOKESPERSON, WILLIAM SPINDLER SAYING: "Countries such as Hungary, Italy and Greece are at the moment, under particular pressure, they are finding a difficult to cope and they need help." VARIOUS OF NEWS BRIEFING (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNHCR SPOKESPERSON, WILLIAM SPINDLER, SAYING: "We are not sure what the role of the army is going to be on this, we are closely following the situation and obviously we expect the authorities to respect the rights of refugees whether they are the army, the police or the civilian authorities." NEWS BRIEFING ONGOING
  • Embargoed: 26th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Switzerland
  • Country: Switzerland
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAE1Z8M61VRMXP1Z1N6LCR55Z5R
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on Friday (September 11) called countries taking in refugees to treat them in "a human way" after an online video showed scores of migrants clamouring for food at a reception center as police in surgical masks throw out packs of sandwiches into the jostling crowd.
    "Refugees who are coming to Europe, looking for protection who have already suffered so much and risked their lives to come here to find safety should be treated in a humane way, they should not be received with police batons and with tears gas and with barbed wire and with fences and walls. That is not the way we would expect refugees to be treated," UNHCR spokesperson William Spindler said.
    The video was posted on the YouTube channel of Austrian politician Alexander Spritzendorfer, and supposedly taken by his wife Michaela Spritzendorfer-Ehrenhauser.
    Evidence has been mounting this week of the Hungarian state's inability to handle the human tide of more than 170,000 people this year seeking sanctuary in Europe from war and poverty in the Middle East and Africa.
    On Thursday alone, police captured a record 3,601 migrants on the border, according to data on the police website.
    "Countries such as Hungary, Italy and Greece are at the moment, under particular pressure, they are finding a difficult to cope and they need help," said Spindler.
    The United Nations welcomed a European Union proposal to take 160,000 refugees and called for large-scale reception centers to be set up immediately in Greece, Italy and Hungary.
    The UNHCR is sending pre-fabricated housing units to provide temporary overnight shelter for 300 families in Hungary, a country that is building a fence along its southern border with Serbia to stem the flow of people trekking north, many aiming for Germany.
    Spindler said the UNHCR was "closely following" Hungary's use of the army to control the situation.
    "We are not sure what the role of the army is going to be on this, we are closely following the situation and obviously we expect the authorities to respect the rights of refugees whether they are the army, the police or the civilian authorities," he said.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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