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New Zealand PM paying "lip service" to Syrian refugee crisis at UN: opposition lawmakers

Xinhua, September 21, 2016 Adjust font size:

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key is talking a big game on Syria at the United Nations, while doing nothing at home to help Syrian refugees, political opponents said Wednesday.

Key used his speech to the UN General Assembly in New York Tuesday to urge the UN Security Council (UNSC) to meet its responsibilities and address the Syria crisis.

"We are deeply troubled to see the council, the pre-eminent body for international peace and security, fail to live up to its responsibilities on the biggest crisis of our time, Syria. Here the council has fallen short," Key said in his published speech.

"Syria is exactly the type of crisis the Security Council was established to address."

Key is also scheduled to chair Wednesday's meeting of the UN Security Council, of which New Zealand holds the presidency this month, following a historic meeting of world leaders to discuss the global refugee crisis.

However, the opposition Green Party said Key could "pay more than just lip service" to the Syrian refugee crisis on the global stage by offering more funding and more resettlement places to refugees in New Zealand.

"The Prime Minister is talking a big game in New York, but resettling more refugees here in New Zealand is a tangible, compassionate move he could make right now to help Syrian families," Green Party immigration spokesperson Denise Roche said in a statement.

"As horrific events in recent days have made very clear, the resolution to the Syrian conflict is still a long way away. In the meantime, tens of thousands of Syrian families are trapped in refugee camps or risking dangerous journeys to try to reach safety," she said.

In June, the New Zealand government raised its much criticized refugee quota from 750 to 1,000 a year.

The rise, to take effect from 2018, was "appropriate" and demonstrated the government's commitment to meet the needs of some of the world's most vulnerable people, Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse said at the time.

The government came under international pressure to double its quota at the height of the Syrian refugee crisis last year, but insisted on sticking to its three-decade-old annual quota of 750 refugees, before it yielded in September and agreed to take extra 500 Syrian refugees over the next two years on top of its annual quota.

Roche said the government's refusal to permanently raise the refugee quota until 2018 showed that "despite our role on the UNSC, he is not fundamentally interested in showing leadership on global issues where New Zealand can really make a difference."

"President Obama's leaders summit on refugees yesterday was a prime opportunity for John Key to commit to the President's campaign to improve the lives of the world's refugees. Instead he has chosen to do nothing," she said.

"As a small country with limited influence, the most practical thing we can do to assist with the crisis is to offer more displaced people a safe place to call home." Endit