Migrant Crisis Shows UN Failure to Fulfill Duties - Irish Parliament Speaker

The unraveling migrant crisis reveals the failure of the United Nations as an organization, as it is not doing enough to resolve the issue, Sean O Fearghail, the speaker of the lower house of Ireland’s parliament, told Sputnik on Friday.

STRASBOURG (Sputnik) — Speaking on the sidelines of the European Conference of Presidents of Parliament in Strasbourg, O Fearghail said:

"I think the [migrant] crisis is indicative of failure on the part of the United Nations to fully do the job that it’s charged with."

According to the Irish politician, organizations like the United Nations need to play a "far more dominant" role in resolving the migration issue.

The European Union is currently struggling to manage a massive refugee crisis, with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing conflict-torn countries in the Middle East and North Africa. The EU border agency Frontex recorded more than 1.8 million illegal border crossings into the bloc in 2015.

The Conference, held under the auspices of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) kicked off Thursday in the French city of Strasbourg. The Conference includes the participation of speakers and presidents of parliaments of the 47 member states of the Council of Europe, as well as of countries holding observer or partner status with the organization and some Central Asian and Maghreb states.