UN chief to meet refugees in Lesbos

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will travel to the Greek island of Lesbos next week to meet with refugees and draw global attention to their plight.

Ban will make the trip on June 18 as part of a European tour that will also take him to Brussels, Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Athens.

"I will visit the Greek island of Lesbos next week, to assess the situation and to show my solidarity," Ban told reporters on Thursday.

"Hundreds of Syrians and other refugees and migrants continue to die in the Mediterranean while making perilous journeys out of war and persecution," he said.

The visit comes as Ban enters the final months of his tenure as UN chief and as the United Nations prepares to host a major international meeting in September on the world refugee crisis.

World leaders are to agree on a new global plan to resettle refugees at the September 19 meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York.

Ban will met with European Union leaders in Brussels and hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg on June 16.

SourcE: AFP