Because humanitarian organisations have developed considerable expertise in providing food, water, sanitation and shelter, saving lives at least offers the morality of a relatively sure option. The history of recent humanitarian crises clearly shows that it is only when the international community takes global responsibility in conflict resolution that tragic consequences of forced displacement can be averted or at least mitigated. Humanitarian intervention does not and cannot eliminate the root causes of the problems it addresses. States can contribute to achieving and maintaining peace and human security on many levels, acting both independently and in concert with the international community. First, asylum must not be abandoned.
Many refugee crises have their origin in abuses of human rights.
Some of the governments that strongly support human rights abroad do not seem to grasp the contradiction between this attitude and restrictive asylum policies at home. Affirming the principles of asylum, putting those principles into consistent practice and cooperating with other countries to do the same are perhaps the most important step that governments can take to help people in danger. Second, let me repeat once again a point on which I have insisted for many years. Humanitarian intervention is not a substitute for political action . I am aware that this has been stated and restated so frequently that it has almost become a slogan.