In an exclusive interview with FRANCE 24, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern about the "global issue" of Europe's migrant crisis and welcomed the recent measures taken by EU leaders to manage it.
"We are very concerned about the increasing number of immigrants, of refugees to the European continent, and this has become a global issue, not only on the European continent, but also in southeast Asia and particularly the Andaman Sea," Ban told FRANCE 24's Marc Perelman in an interview in Strasbourg.
The EU officially launched a naval operation in the Mediterranean on Monday that will initially be limited to increasing surveillance of human traffickers.
"Most refugees are coming to the European continent for a better future. The priority of the United Nations is that all the measures should be rights-based. Their human rights and human dignity and their human lives should be saved, that is the number one priority,” Ban said.
"We welcome the comprehensive measures European leaders are now taking... I sincerely hope that this will really help reduce [the strain at] the borders of some particular countries, and this should be a collective responsibility," he added.
Ban also discussed the conflicts in Libya and Yemen as well as the ongoing negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme.
He expressed hope for a deal between Iran and six world powers by a June 30 deadline.
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