Photogrpher: Yousong Hu

Mr. President,

On behalf of the Group of Asia-Pacific States, I am honoured to welcome and support the Secretary-General’s nomination of Mr. Filippo Grandi as the new United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. I congratulate Mr. Grandi on being elected as High Commissioner for Refugees, and wish him success in his new position.

We believe that Mr. Grandi will benefit from his extensive experience in the field of refugee in the United Nations, when fulfilling his responsibilities as High Commissioner. Given the current complex refugee situation, the international community will greatly benefit from his leadership and deep knowledge of issues of international refugee. We also believe that Mr. Grandi will keep close communication and cooperation with Member States, taking full care of their concerns. The UNHCR is a critical part of the United Nations system and is mandated to protect refugees, returnees and stateless people. In that light, we look forward to working with Mr. Grandi in the future, and we offer our Group’s full support to you and the UNHCR.

We would also like to express our utmost appreciation to H.E. Mr. António Guterres for his outstanding contributions during his tenure as High Commissioner for Refugees. On behalf of the Asia-Pacific Group, we would like to offer him our best wishes to his future endeavours.

I thank you, Mr. President.