(supersedes previous)United
Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday thanked Italy
for saving the lives of migrants and asylum seekers.
In remarks to the Lower House as Italy celebrated its 60th
year as a UN member nation, he praised Italy's "courageous and
profoundly humane response to the greatest migrant crisis since
the end of World War II".
"I render tribute to men and women of Italy who have saved
tens of thousands of migrants. I thank Italy," he said.
He also called for countries to share the burden of
rescuing, hosting and processing migrants and asylum seekers.
"All nations have the same duty above and beyond geographic
proximity," he said.
All people driven out of their homes deserve protection, he
added.
"Forced migration does not come in two categories, the
deserving and the undeserving," he told Italian lawmakers. b
"There are only people who need help. All migrants deserve
protection" he added, reminding lawmakers of Italy's "history of
emigration".
Ban went on to urge Italy to do more to combat climate
change.
"I call on Italy to be more ambitious in achieving a low
carbon-emission economy," he said, citing the pope's latest
encyclical which "defines climate change as a moral issue" and
calls it "one of the main challenges" of today.
In closing, the UN chief compared Italy to the Fiat 500
car.
"The Fiat 500 is more and more successful - a bit like
Italy, which is always on the move," he said, adding that "every
time I wear an Italian tie, I feel like my wife loves me a
little more".
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
