Following are quotable quotes from the speakers at the UN high-level meeting to address large movements of refugees and migrants, which opened at UN Heaquarters in New York on Monday. [Special coverage]
"Images of childhood cut short by conflict and terror have appalled the world. Lives lost in the pursuit of survival in other countries move us to reflect and, especially, to act." -- Michel Temer, the president of Brazil.
"The global migration and displacement crisis has reached unprecedented levels and continues to grow. The scale of the problem is of the highest humanitarian concern. Addressing this phenomenon, as it manifests worldwide, is an enormous task." -- Raimonds Vejonis, the president of Latvia.
"Globally-shared responsibility should be undertaken in a spirit of mutual support and solidarity. The New York Declaration we adopt today emphasizes our common objective for strengthened cooperation and coordination within the UN system." -- Rosen Plevneliev, the president of Bulgaria.
"We are facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis which is the consequence on the one hand of economic insecurity, poor standard of living and lack of education opportunities on those countries in which migratory flows are being observed and on the other hand the outcome of the ongoing turmoil, extremism, sectarianism, civil war and terrorism taking place in Middle East, North Africa and other regions of the world." -- Nicos Anastasiades, the president of Cyprus.
"Zambia has been a longstanding home to refugees from neighboring countries in the region as well as from the Horn of Africa. Two years after gaining independence, in 1966, the first refugee settlement was established in the western part of the country, followed by another in North-Western Province in 1971." -- Edgar Chagwa. Lungu, the president of Zambia.
"Migration is as old as human civilization. Yet movements internally and across borders have grown dramatically and will continue to do so in an increasingly globalized world. With the unprecedented number of conflicts and crisis worldwide, large-scale mixed flows are becoming a frequent phenomenon. New trends are also emerging with the rise of environmental problems associated with climate change and natural disasters." -- Lazar Comanescu, the foreign minister of Romania.
