(Hina) - Croatia's caretaker Foreign Minister Miro Kovač on Monday portrayed the New York Declaration from the ongoing session of the United Nations' summit meeting on migrants, as "a global response to the challenge facing not only Europe and the Middle East but the entire world."
The World Organisation says on its web site that the New York Declaration expresses the political will of world leaders "to protect the rights of refugees and migrants, to save lives and share responsibility for large movements on a global scale."
"The plan adopted in New York must make it possible that the treatment of refugees ensures their dignity, safety and their human rights," Kovač said in New York.
Kovač recalled that currently there were over 240 million refugees, half of whom are children.
The minister underscored that Croatia treated refugees in an organised and humane manner.
"Last year, we cared for several tens of thousands of refugees, on Croatia's territory, and they were mainly in transit. We were efficient in that, and we showed efficiency in our cooperation with our colleagues in Austria, Slovenia, Serbia and Macedonia. Our treatment of refugees led to the downsizing of the refugee tide, and in a way to the closing of the Balkan route, thanks to Croatia's engagement with counterparts from the neighbourhood," Kovač said.
Croatia's President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović is also attending the ongoing Summit for Refugees and Migrants.
"At the opening of the UN General Assembly's first-ever Summit for Refugees and Migrants, delegations adopted the landmark Declaration, which contains bold commitments both to address current issues and to prepare the world for future challenges, including, to start negotiations leading to an international conference and the adoption of a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration in 2018," the UN states on its web site.