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STORY: GA / REFUGEE PETITION
TRT: 2:59
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / ARABIC
DATELINE: 15 SEPTEMBER 2016, NEW YORK CITY
RECENT - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UNHQ exterior
15 SEPTEMBER 2016, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, General Assembly Hall
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Emi Mahmoud, Poet:
(Soundbite begins under cutway) “It is like that sometimes, when I see the corpse of a stranger; that kind of death from the outside of someone else’s final breathe. It makes the air stop, the ocean turn more slowly, the earth a cradle a cemetery, a monument, a stone, like a dead boy, resting in the sand.”
4. Wide shot, General Assembly Hall
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ben Stiller, Actor:
(Soundbite begins under cutway) “Every day war forces thousands of families to flee their homes; families like yours; families like mine. People like you, people like me. To escape the violence, they leave everything behind, everything except their hopes and dreams for a safer future. We believe all refugees deserve the right to protection and to live in safety. Together, we are sending a clear message to governments that they must act with solidarity and take shared responsibility. They must work together to find solutions for those forced to flee from conflict and persecution.”
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ben Stiller, Actor:
“We stand with refugees, please stand with us.”
7. Med shot, Stand #WithRefugees Poster
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees:
(Soundbite begins under cutway) “The coalition that has emerged from this initiative is a global chorus of voices: civil society, faith based groups, private sector, artists, actors, athletes and ordinary people who care about those forced to become refugees.”
9. Wide shot, Secretary-General signing #WithRefugees petition
10. Med shot, Secretary-General signing #WithRefugees petition
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“We cannot let innocent people be buried by indifference. We cannot let heartlessness expose so many children to deadly risk. We cannot let indifference condemn families to tragedy. We reject xenophobic rhetoric. We stand with refugees.”
12. Wide shot, ceremonial handover of petition to Secretary-General
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Yiech Pur Biel, Refugee Athlete:
“The right to shelter is the foundation towards any achievement. We must strive for this right. I am a refugee just like how any of you could become a refugee, and the right to a safe place to live should not be denied to anyone.”
14. Wide shot, General Assembly Hall
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) handed Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon a petition in support of refugees ahead of a high-level summit on refugees and migrants set to take place on Monday (19 Sep) as part of the UN General Assembly.
Emi Mahmoud, a refugee from Darfur, read a poem describing the death of the Syrian child Aylan Kurdi, who was found washed up on the Turkish shoreline last year. She said it made “the air stop, the ocean turn more slowly, the earth a cradle, a cemetery, a monument, a stone; like a dead boy, resting in the sand.”
The #WithRefugees petition, which has been sign by over 1.2 million people, calls on world leaders to “act with solidarity and take shared responsibility” and find solutions for those forced to flee from conflict and persecution. Reading excerpts of the petition, actor Ben Stiller said refugees left everything behind to escape violence “except their hopes and dreams for a safer future. “ The petition calls on world leaders to ensure refugees had a safe place to live and could learn new skills to make positive contributions to their communities. It also called for every refugee child to receive an education.
UN Secretary-General signed the petition and said, “We cannot let indifference condemn families to tragedy.” Ban said next week’s summit would be the foundation to build a stronger global response for refugees.
Olympian Yiech Pur Biel said the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya gave him shelter and a chance to build his life. Biel said the right to shelter was the foundation towards any achievement. He said, “I am a refugee just like how any of you could become a refugee, and the right to a safe place to live should not be denied to anyone.”
