As UN meets to fight poverty, Europe puts up razor wire to keep poor out
by Larry Elliott Economics editor from on (#N0XX)
Sustainable development summit must address inequality that makes people undertake dangerous journeys to the west
The contrast could hardly be sharper. Razor wire fences are being constructed to keep the uprooted poor out of the European Union at the very moment the United Nations meets to agree anti-poverty goals for the next 15 years.
No question, the gathering in New York will be a regular jamboree. There will be mutual backslapping about the progress that has been made over the past 15 years, a good deal of it justified. Countries will solemnly pledge to meet the 17 sustainable development goals, with 169 specific targets, by 2030. They will turn a blind eye to what is happening in Serbia, Hungary, Croatia and Austria.
