There is never a humanitarian solution for a humanitarian crisis. The solutions for the humanitarian crisis are always political ones.
Antonio GuterresRead
A refugee in the traditional vision is someone who flees from country to another because of persecution or conflict. But what we're witnessing now more and more is a certain number of mega-trends interacting with one another: population growth, urbanization, food insecurity, water scarcity, climate change, and conflict.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the evolving concept of a refugee, linking it to broader global challenges.
Antonio Guterres emphasizes that the traditional understanding of a refugee is limited to those fleeing persecution or conflict. He points out that current global trends, such as population growth, urbanization, and climate change, are increasingly contributing to the reasons people are forced to leave their homes, thus broadening the definition of what it means to be a refugee in today's world.
Themes
RefugeeMigrationGlobal IssuesClimate ChangeUrbanizationConflict
In practice
Example use cases
During a speech at a humanitarian conference, this quote could be used to highlight the complexity of refugee crises.
More from Antonio Guterres
All quotes →As a global society, we have the technology, resources and the know-how to make a massive difference to living standards everywhere, including for refugees.
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Humanitarian response, sustainable development, and sustaining peace are three sides of the same triangle.
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The fact that societies are becoming increasingly multi-ethnic, multicultural, and multi-religious is good. Diversity is a strength, not a weakness.
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Syria has become the great tragedy of this century - a disgraceful humanitarian calamity with suffering and displacement unparalleled in recent history.
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