UN Chief Urges States to Focus on Crisis Solutions, Not Border Controls

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi talks to reporters during a visit to the Jdeidat Yabus border crossing in southwestern Syria as displaced people arrive from Lebanon on October 7, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi talks to reporters during a visit to the Jdeidat Yabus border crossing in southwestern Syria as displaced people arrive from Lebanon on October 7, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
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UN Chief Urges States to Focus on Crisis Solutions, Not Border Controls

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi talks to reporters during a visit to the Jdeidat Yabus border crossing in southwestern Syria as displaced people arrive from Lebanon on October 7, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi talks to reporters during a visit to the Jdeidat Yabus border crossing in southwestern Syria as displaced people arrive from Lebanon on October 7, 2024. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)

The head of the UN refugee agency on Monday urged countries to focus on solutions to crises and to drop measures to block refugees and migrants at their borders, saying they are ineffective and sometimes illegal.
Addressing over 100 diplomats and ministers in Geneva at UNHCR's annual meeting, Filippo Grandi said an unprecedented 123 million people are displaced around the world, Reuters reported.
"You might then ask: what can be done? For a start, do not focus only on your borders," he said, urging leaders instead to look at the reasons people are fleeing their homes.



Two Dead, Four Missing in Spanish Mine Accident

A miner looks on as trucks wait to load soil at a gold quarry in Paso Yobai, Guaira Department, Paraguay, on February 11, 2025. (Photo by Daniel DUARTE / AFP)
A miner looks on as trucks wait to load soil at a gold quarry in Paso Yobai, Guaira Department, Paraguay, on February 11, 2025. (Photo by Daniel DUARTE / AFP)
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Two Dead, Four Missing in Spanish Mine Accident

A miner looks on as trucks wait to load soil at a gold quarry in Paso Yobai, Guaira Department, Paraguay, on February 11, 2025. (Photo by Daniel DUARTE / AFP)
A miner looks on as trucks wait to load soil at a gold quarry in Paso Yobai, Guaira Department, Paraguay, on February 11, 2025. (Photo by Daniel DUARTE / AFP)

At least two miners died on Monday and four were missing in an accident in a mine in the northern Spanish region of Asturias, the regional emergency service said.
The emergency service said another three people had been injured due to a machine malfunction inside the mine in Degana at 9:32 a.m. (0732 GMT) local time. Three helicopters and two ambulances have been sent to the scene.
El Mundo newspaper said earlier there had been an explosion in the mine and that several people were trapped.