PH prepared to accept refugees, Duterte tells UN
The Philippines is prepared to accept refugees, including the Rohingyas, as part of continuing its humanitarian tradition, President Duterte said in his address before the United Nations General Assembly.
The President made the commitment to provide shelter to refugees while appealing to all nations to resolve conflicts that force people to flee their homes.
"As I have said many times: The doors of the Philippines are open, as they have always been, to everyone fleeing for safety, such as the Rohingyas," he said in a video message at the UN gathering.
He noted that the country has a long history of opening its doors to the refugees, citing the aid given to the White Russians following the 1917 Revolution, the European Jews in the Second World War, the Vietnamese in the late 1960s, and the Iranians displaced by the 1979 revolution, among others.
"The Philippines continues to honor this humanitarian tradition in accordance with our obligations under the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol," he said.
The mass exodus of Rohingya Muslims began in 2017 following a military response to an attack by an insurgent group. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas have sought safety to neighboring Bangladesh after fleeing reported violence and destruction of their homes in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
The President meantime reminded other countries about the "shared responsibility" to look after refugees.
"Lest we forget: helping the most vulnerable – those displaced by conflict, persecution, and political instability – is a shared responsibility of all countries," he said.
He also called for the resolution of conflicts to curb the suffering of displaced people. He said there should be mutual understanding and tolerance amid different faiths and cultures.
"In the face of a mounting refugee crisis worldwide, let us work together towards ending the conflicts and conditions that force people to flee their homes," he said.
"As our societies become more diverse yet interdependent, social cohesion issues come to the fore. Mutual understanding always accompanied by mutual tolerance between those of different faiths and cultures is the only foundation of societies at peace with itself," he added.