UNITED NATIONS, New York – Timor-Leste’s President José Ramos-Horta said last week that he regrets the double standards in international aid and apathy toward the poor.
In the aftermath of the 2008 subprime crisis, hundreds of billions of US dollars were quickly mobilized to rescue exposed European and American banks. Draconian fiscal austerity measures in the form of cuts in public expenditure and higher taxes were forced on the workers and middle class, he noted, adding, “But rarely are we able to inspire the rich to show the same level of compassion and wisdom toward the poorer South.”
“I always believe that we are all part of the great human family. Yet some seem to feel that we are not really equal, we are not part of the same human family, since part of the world lives in dazzling citadels, while their billions of distant relatives live in poor global neighborhoods,” he told the general debate of the 77th UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Friday.
Aid to poorer countries of the South should not be canceled or reallocated to address the refugee crisis caused by the conflict in Ukraine, he said.
“They should pause for a moment to reflect on the glaring contrast in their response to the wars elsewhere where women and children have died by the thousands from wars and starvation. Their responses to our beloved [UN] secretary-general’s cries for help in these situations have not met with equal compassion,” Ramos-Horta said. – Xinhua
Timor-Leste’s President José Ramos-Horta speaks during the general debate of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York on Friday. – Xinhua
