LEBANON / REFUGEES GRANDI PRESSER

United Nations refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi said Syrian refugees “should be received with solidarity and generosity, not identified as carriers of risk” and asked if Lebanon could host over a million refugees in the past few years, “why can’t rich countries host a much smaller number.” UNHCR

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:43
• Production Date: 3 February 2017
• Asset Language: English
• Personal Subject: FILIPPO GRANDI
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES - UNHCR
• Subject Topical: CONFLICT SITUATION; REFUGEES; SYRIA SITUATION
• Geographic Subject: LEBANON; SYRIA
• MAMS Id: 1825965
• Parent Id: 1825965
• Alternate Title: unifeed170203e

Description

STORY: LEBANON / REFUGEES GRANDI PRESSER
TRT: 02:43
SOURCE: UNHCR
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 03 FEBRUARY 2017, BEIRUT, LEBANON

Shotlist

03 FEBRUARY 2017, BEIRUT, LEBANON

1. Tracking, Grandi entering conference hall
2. Wide shot, Grandi speaking to press
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, High Commissioner, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR):
“I think we need to be patient because I am sure that many people want to return, actually I am absolutely sure about that, but we before they choose to do so, in large numbers, I think the situation has to improve on the other side of the border politically but also from the security point of view.”
4. Med shot, journalist
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, High Commissioner, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR):
“They should be embraced, they should be received with solidarity and generosity not identified as carriers of risk, of threat. They are not. These are people that flee from danger, they are not dangerous themselves. You hosted more than a million people here, in the last few years, why can’t rich countries host a much smaller number.”
6. Wide shot, journalist
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, High Commissioner, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR):
“What we have seen in the United States, you have seen it all, is an executive order that puts severe limitations to one program in particular called resettlement. You know what this is, because it is not always clear. Resettlement means taking refugees from places like Lebanon where they are already refugees, selecting the most vulnerable, and taking them to other places.”
8. Wide shot, videographers
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, High Commissioner, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR):
“Let’s share a little bit; we don’t take half a million but at least we take a few thousands. This is a gesture which I think is important in the international refugee protection system. If we weaken that program, as has been done in the United States, this is a very dangerous weakening of the international solidarity for refugees.”
10. Wide shot, journalists
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, High Commissioner, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR):
“I don’t see in Syria the conditions to create this type of safe zones. So like I said, and some of you have seen in one of my tweets, let’s not waste time in planning safe zones that will not be set up because they will not be safe enough for people to go back. Let’s concentrate on making peace so that everything becomes safe. That should be the investment.”
12. Wide shot, Grandi speaking to press
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, High Commissioner, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR):
“We are not encouraging people to go back to Syria. I think it would be irresponsible of my organization to encourage people to go back.”
14. Wide shot, Grandi speaking to press
15. Med shot, Grandi speaking to journalist

Storyline

United Nations refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi said Syrian refugees “should be received with solidarity and generosity, not identified as carriers of risk” and asked if Lebanon could host over a million refugees in the past few years, “why can’t rich countries host a much smaller number.”

Speaking to reporters today (3 Feb) in the Lebanese capital Beirut, Grandi said he was sure many Syrians wanted to return to their home country but before they could choose to do so, the situation there had to improve both politically and from a security point of view.

He said US President Donald Trump’s recent executive order put “severe limitations” to refugee resettlement programmes adding that weakening such programmes was “a very dangerous weakening of the international solidarity for refugees.”

The High Commissioner was speaking at the end of his first visit to Lebanon’s war-torn neighbour since the beginning of the conflict. He said he did not see the conditions there to create “safe zones” in the country.

Grandi said time should not be wasted planning for safe zones “that will not be set up because they will not be safe enough for people to go back” rather the focus should be on “making peace so that everything becomes safe.”