There is never a humanitarian solution for a humanitarian crisis. The solutions for the humanitarian crisis are always political ones.
If resources become scarce, people tend to fight for them. This is increasing the number of people on the move and the number of people forced to move. They're not refugees, according to the legal definition, but they represent a major humanitarian and human rights challenge, as well as a major challenge for world politics.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Scarcity of resources leads to conflict and displacement among people.
This quote by Antonio Guterres highlights the critical issue of resource scarcity and its consequences on human societies. He points out that when resources become limited, individuals often find themselves in conflict over these essentials, which leads to increased displacement and migration. Even though many of these individuals do not meet the official definition of refugees, they still face significant humanitarian challenges and pose complex political issues globally.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about climate change, a leader might say, 'As Guterres pointed out, if resources become scarce, people tend to fight for them.'
More from Antonio Guterres
All quotes βAs a global society, we have the technology, resources and the know-how to make a massive difference to living standards everywhere, including for refugees.
The world's problems transcend borders.
Humanitarian response, sustainable development, and sustaining peace are three sides of the same triangle.
The fact that societies are becoming increasingly multi-ethnic, multicultural, and multi-religious is good. Diversity is a strength, not a weakness.
Syria has become the great tragedy of this century - a disgraceful humanitarian calamity with suffering and displacement unparalleled in recent history.
Similar quotes
So on this Human Rights Day, let us rededicate ourselves to the advancement of human rights and freedoms for all, and pledge always to live by the ideals we promote to the world.
When you single out any particular group of people for secondary citizenship status, that's a violation of basic human rights.
It takes no compromising to give people their rights. It takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no survey to remove repressions.
Violence against women and girls touches every corner of the globe and is one of the world's most pervasive human rights violations.
How can human rights be ever developed for the majority of Chinese people? The only way is to organize. To organize workers, peasants, merchants, industrialists, and students at the grassroots level.
Human rights, human freedoms... and human dignity have their deepest roots somewhere outside the perceptible world... while the state is a human creation, human beings are the creation of God.