MSF president worries world could lose its humanity over treatment of migrants
On International Migrants Day, MSF international president reflects on global crisis
Dr. Joanne Liu was working in Central America when a father facing the threat of violence shared a story that stunned her.
He told Liu, the international president of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), he could no longer live with the feeling that he might return home from work one day to find his child abducted.
So, the family fled, Liu said.
According to the United Nations, there were 258 million migrants worldwide in 2017. Some have left home willingly for work or family, but others — like the father in Central America — have been forced to run from violence and other threats. Roughly 68 million people around the world are forcibly displaced, and there are more than 25 million refugees, the UN says.
Nations have reacted to those numbers in different ways. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has held a liberal approach to the issue, welcoming well over a million new arrivals since 2014. By contrast, one of U.S. President Donald Trump's central election promises was to build a wall to stop migration at the southern border.
Liu worries that the world could lose its humanity if hard-line approaches prevail.
"The reality is, like it or not, those people will not disappear," she told The Current's Anna Maria Tremonti.
At a time of global uncertainty, Liu said people need to stick together.
"We need to make sure that we're not walking away from our humanity," she said. "Not recognizing our shared humanity with the migrant is somehow denying our own humanity."
UN strikes migration agreement
Although the migrant crisis rages on, some are trying to address it.
Earlier this month, several UN countries adopted a global migration compact aimed at reducing illegal migration and helping migrants return home safely.
Opponents like Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer objected to the agreement on the basis it would put sovereignty at risk.
The agreement, which Canada endorsed, is non-binding.
But for Liu, the compact is a defining moment — a way of reaffirming a collective commitment.
"I believe that in Canada, the Canadian [does] not want to send a mother, a father back to where they come from, where they're going to be abused … or they don't want as well to have a seven-year-old child to die once she has crossed the border to the U.S.," said Liu.
"If we are to basically enact that [global migration compact], we will create a win-win situation."
Click 'listen' near the top of this page to hear Liu's full conversation with Tremonti.
Written by Kirsten Fenn. With files from CBC News. Produced by Imogen Birchard and Cameron Perrier.