PAKISTAN / REFUGEE SUMMIT

“Afghanistan and its people cannot be abandoned,” said the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as a two-day conference kicked off today in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, to address millions of Afghans trapped in exile over forty years of conflict. UNHCR

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:27
• Production Date: 17 February 2020
• Asset Language: English
• Personal Subject: ANTONIO GUTERRES; FILIPPO GRANDI
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES - UNHCR
• Subject Topical: REFUGEES
• Geographic Subject: AFGHANISTAN
• MAMS Id: 2532528
• Parent Id: 2532528
• Alternate Title: unifeed200217b

Description

STORY: PAKISTAN / REFUGEE SUMMIT
TRT: 2:27
SOURCE: UNHCR /FILE
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNHCR ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH /NATS

DATELINE: 17 FEBRUARY 2020, ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN /FILE

Shotlist

17 FEBRUARY 2020, ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN

1. Various shots, summit
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees:
“This is what we are here to mark today: the compassion, the hospitality, the solidarity of the people of the host countries; and the courage and resilience of the Afghan people.”
3. Cutaway, audience
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees:
“Working on solutions is all the more important as efforts to revitalize the peace process in Afghanistan continue and hopefully gain momentum. Afghan displacement can only be solved by peace, and peace will be strengthened by solving forced displacement.”
5. Cutaway, audience
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations:
“Working towards solutions for the Afghan people is not just a sign of solidarity; it is in the world’s best interest. Afghans now constitute the largest group of arrivals in Europe, exceeding for the first time the arrivals from Syria. Returns to Afghanistan, as we both said, have hit a historical low. Afghanistan and its people cannot be abandoned. Now is the time for the international community to act and to deliver.”
7. Cutaway, audience
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Imran Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan: “Who wants to be a refugee? It’s probably the most difficult decision for a human being to leave his home.”

4 OCTOBER 2019, LESVOS, GREECE

9. Various shots, newly arrived refugee and migrant families wrapped in blankets
10. Wide shot, children climbing and swinging on a gate
11. Wide shot, people in Moria camp

AUGUST 2003, PESHAWAR, PAKISTAN

12. Various shots, Afghan refugees at UNHCR reception centre

Storyline

“Afghanistan and its people cannot be abandoned,” said the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as a two-day conference kicked off Monday (17 Feb) in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad to address millions of Afghans trapped in exile over forty years of conflict.

2.7 million Afghans are registered as refugees worldwide, with just over half - 1.4 millio, in Pakistan. Their needs, and those of the communities hosting them, are the focus of the conference, said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi in his opening statement.

“Working on solutions is all the more important as efforts to revitalize the peace process in Afghanistan continue and hopefully gain momentum,” said Grandi. “Afghan displacement can only be solved by peace, and peace will be strengthened by solving forced displacement,” he added.

Also speaking at the conference, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said: “Working towards solutions for the Afghan people is not just a sign of solidarity; it is in the world’s best interest. Afghans now constitute the largest group of arrivals in Europe, exceeding for the first time the arrivals from Syria. Returns to Afghanistan, as we both said, have hit a historical low. Afghanistan and its people cannot be abandoned. Now is the time for the international community to act and to deliver.”

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan aske the audience: “Who wants to be a refugee?” He answered himself: “It’s probably the most difficult decision for a human being to leave his home.”