Young people should get in touch with young migrants, says IOM’s Vitorino

The ongoing war in Ukraine led to 5 million people leaving the country, but this is just the latest example of people moving around the world in unprecedented numbers.  

There are a many of reasons that can lead directly to mass-migration, and they are discussed at-length in this edition of Global Conversation, as Euronews Journalist, Nuno Prudêncio, speaks to António Vitorino, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). 

Nuno Prudêncio, Euronews: War, terrorism, poverty, climate change. There can be many reasons behind a migration flow. We are at the Estoril Conferences, near Lisbon, where young people are debating a "Future of Hope". Here with us is António Vitorino, Director General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Welcome to Euronews. My very first question is: we are surrounded here by young people. There's a war going on very near us, in Ukraine. How can we prepare younger generations to face and respond to the various migrations that keep happening?

**António Vitorino:**The vast majority of migrants worldwide are young people, and the first task, I would say, for young people in the countries of destination is to get in touch with those young migrants. Get to know them, understand why they came. What are their hopes and their expectations? So my appeal here today in the Estoril Conferences is to say get engaged, get in touch, understand why people are fleeing from war, from poverty, from climate change. And then act and act means volunteering, the support, but also advocating a treatment with dignity to migrants.

Euronews: How is your organization coping with the possibility of a long term war?

António Vitorino: This refugee crisis is totally unique. First of all,