david miliband in new york, welcome to hardtalk. thanks very much, stephen. good to be with you.ood to have you. do you think the world yet has a handle on the scale of the humanitarian disaster that has begun to unfold and will continue to unfold in ukraine? well, i think there are three parts, three fronts to the humanitarian crisis. there is the danger to life and limb that's posed for those civilians who are caught in the crossfire, who are caught, frankly, in the missiles and in the bombings. and i think that gravity of that situation is becoming clearer. the second front is the internally displaced within ukraine, the people on the run inside the country. there, the latest figures are over a million people on the move. and then the third front is the refugees, more than half a million, who've gone into neighbouring european states, over 400,000 into poland. and i would say that the gravity for the first group is onlyjust becoming clear. the position of the internally displaced is very unclear at the moment. but on the refugee front, i think there is a recognition that there

joining us is david miliband, president and ceo of -- and he was formally britain's prime minister.r those fleeing the war and overwhelming for the country trying to help with food and shelter. what are the challenges of a refugee crisis that happens on this scale? >> thanks, alicia. you've got to remember that the european market is 500 million people, the largest and richest single market, if you include the uk. so, at the moment, two and a half million refugees, predictions of 5 million -- that is a lot of people. but there is an infrastructure there that can support them. and what i would call attention to is that yes there is a refugee crisis across the border in europe. but the situation of those trapped inside ukraine is genuinely a matter of life and death. fortunately, once people make it to europe, there are systems in place to make sure that they are able to get fed, that they get shelter and medical care. and we will be supporting that as the international rescue committee. but we will also be concentrating on the situation inside ukraine, because that's a major front of

david miliband, thank ou this discussion. david miliband, thank you so — this discussion.avid miliband, thank you so much for- this discussion. david miliband, thank you so much forjoining i this discussion. david miliband, | thank you so much forjoining us this discussion. david miliband, - thank you so much forjoining us on the programme. thank you so much for “oining us on the programme._ tens of thousands of people having making their way to western ukraine, to live and it has been the city that has sheltered these internally displaced people, they have opened up displaced people, they have opened up things like gems, art centres, cultural centres, to these people. we have volunteers all over the city helping where they can. the city's mare has also said they are now overwhelmed. there are 200,000 people that have arrived in the city from other parts of the country and he is expecting that number to rise. earlier, i spoke to the mayor of lviv, and asked him about the sheer number of refugees who've travelled to his city. it's a very difficult situation today, very impo

david miliband is that president and ceo of the international rescue committee. he is a member of the munich security conference advisory board. don't go anywhere. another special hour of velshi from the ukrainian hungarian border starts right now. tarts right now. good morning, i'm ali velshi. it is 9 am in new york. 3 pm in tiszabecs hungary where i am today. there is ukraine. russian forces are continuing an offense for the 11th day. as of this morning, more than one and a half million people have fled ukraine. that is according to numbers from the un high commissioner for refugees, who said that this is quote, the fastest-growing refugee crisis in europe since world war ii. many of the people fleeing ukraine are moving westward toward towns like i'm in, tiszabecs here in hungary, and other neighboring countries like poland and slovakia. on the other end of ukraine, a cease-fire was in effect earlier this morning in the southeastern city of mariupol. it was the south and attempt in as many as two days to open a corridor for civilians to evacuate. it's the seco

david miliband joins us right now. of the united kingdom. david, thank you for being with us again. wow, we talked a week ago and the week has changed so much in just that one week. we've got official numbers that are somewhere above one and a half million refugees, but you told me last week that you think this number could get to four or 5 million. the un high commission for refugees are saying that that number right now might be two times the one and a half million estimate, or even higher than that. because you can't keep track of everybody who's a refugee. this is the biggest refugee movements since world war ii. >> yes, you're right, ali. i'm so sorry to say that my predictions of a week ago are looking correct. the reason is very simple, there is a merciless campaign being waged by the russians inside ukraine. and no one is safe. that is why you've got these millions of people on the move. just by way of comparison, the syria refugee crisis, which produced about 6 million refugees, it took three months for the fi

my guest is david miliband, boss of the international rescue committee and former british foreign secretary

david miliband, we have to end there. i thank you very much indeed forjoining me on hardtalk.dnesday, we saw the thicker cloud moving further north across the uk, bringing with it some rain and some drizzle. there was still some sunshine across northern parts of scotland, over eight hours of sunshine, actually, in shetland. but thursday starting cloudy pretty much everywhere, quite misty and murky. as a result of the cloud, though, it's frost—free this time. but we do have a band of rain that's been pushing its way in from the west. that should be clearing away from northern ireland. it'll clear up here with some sunshine and a scattering of showers, but you can see how slowly that rain moves into scotland, into northwest of england, across wales, eventually into the west midlands and into the west country, allowing some late sunshine in the far southwest of england and wales. and ahead of that ragged band of rain, eastern parts of england should have a drier, brighter day on thursday, maybe some sunshine in the southeast of england, lifting temperatures to a milder 12 degrees

let's begin with david miliband and then go to graham young. david miliband is president and ceo of the international rescue committee where he oversees the agencies humanitarian relief operations in more than 40 countries. 2007 to 2010, he was the foreign secretary for the united kingdom. he was a frequent guest before this committee. a great counsel to many of us and we are grateful for his testimony today. we have mr. graham smith, a senior consultant for the international crisis group who worked on the ground in afghanistan for nine years. he previously worked for the u.s. mission in afghanistan and as an international journalist. thank you for appearing and we will begin with you. both of your full statements will be entered into the record. >> thank you very much. thank you very much indeed to both of you for your initiative in taking this hearing. i'm looking forward to answering your questions. i want to bring the voices of 3000 international rescue committee staff across afghanistan into the halls of power today but also try to speak t

. >> former british foreign secretary, now leader of international aid grurngs david miliband urged u.s. lawmakers to act urgently and change policy to address the humanitarian crisis in afghanistan, mr.

and david miliband, president of the international rescue committee. david, every day gets worse. is doing right now on the ground. and once these children make it out of the country, how do we know they're safe? or where they're going? >> you summed it up very well, stephanie. each day brings a new low. and that you can figure of one child every second becoming a refugee in ukraine is really haunting. we know that the trauma of this kind of war leaves long lasting effects. and the critical thing is safety. the critical thing is to retain contact with at least one parent. because you said it's mothers leaving with children. the other thing that we know is that the company of other children is absolutely key. so european countries are absolutely committing to get children to school immediately. pictures of epstein from italy, ireland, of children going school today, that is what those children need. and i think it's very, very important to hear what the young girl was saying. there is nothing left. but i'm afraid that there are 1 million of children left still inside of ukraine. be

joining us now is david miliband. mittee. overseeing relief of firsts for the war. david, i wanted to say what i just said in the last segment to remind people that, if you find this shocking, and you find as different -- offensive, that people are like, this and that people have to escape their homes with what they can carry, this is one tenth of the refugees in the world. and i don't even know that might be a conservative estimate. but we have 27 million people displaced people and refugees all of whom some suffered something similar. >> it was a truly brilliant piece, here emphasis on the cruelty of war, the kindness of strangers, and the current enis of you have to use is a very powerful indeed. you are right to stretch stress total for refugees, but you're also right to say 90% of refugees are not from ukraine. 95%. they also mentioned in passing, people of refugees in their own country. that is about 45 million but not economic migrants even. >> million in total or world records. there are more wars, certainly mo

. >> you make an interesting point i was hoping to get to with david miliband, and that is, for all the refugees we talk about, there are twice the number of people in ukraine who are not in their homes, went a different city, whose kids are not in school, and that is the way to think that as well. jacob siraj, msnbc correspondent in lviv. joining me now is angela stench, a director of the center for you ration russian and eastern european studies at georgetown university. she is also senior fellow at brookings university, and a former national intelligence officer for russia and your eurasia. she's also the author of the book putin's, world russia against the western with the west. angela, thanks for seeing me again, thank you for being with us. we talk about the unity of the world has come together on against russia, and the sanctions, and we are not quite there with the europeans deciding to not buy energy from russia, but we might get there this week with joe biden coming to europe. here is my question for you. china is not distancing itself from russia, in fact it is doing the oppo

i just spoke to david miliband, in the last hour.hen you think about refugees in the, world the 27 million of them, when you add the number of displaced people in their own countries that number more than doubles. that is happening in ukraine, as well. there's a whole lot of people who have not left the country but they are not in the homes that they were living, in they're in a different part of the country. i'm worried about the two of you, because these attacks are getting closer and closer to where you are. please keep your team safe and please stay safe, we will stay close to you. kelly kabeya in poland, and bc's molly hunter in lviv, ukraine. joining me now is heather connally, she is the president of the german marshall fund. she's also a deputy state for europe and eurasian affairs, where she co-led u.s. affairs to engage nato. heather, these developments overnight. i want to first of all get your take on this. when you look at that map, of where that attack took place, it says everything you need to say. that spot, that dot,

david miliband joins me now, he is the president and ceo of the international rescue committee. retary of the united kingdom. david, i want to start, if i, can by asking you to switch has to the other one for a. moment i know that, obviously with the irc, you can't get as political as you could when you are a political guy. but that conversation i was just having with an apple bomb, that commentary i just delivered about how the autocrats a dictators of the world are looking at how he handled this, i am curious, as a guy who was in government in the west, how you feel about that. how we have to take this moment, as the world backslide from democracy into authoritarianism at a rate we have not seen since 100 years ago. how do you think we should think about that. >> i'm very happy to answer, that ali. because, the retrenchment, the recession of democratic rights at home is associated with the application of the rule of law abroad. the retreat of the rule of law abroad, the rise of impunity abroad. invading at child as maxim of a punitive, so is bombing a hospital or they're full o

. >> reporter: david miliband is the president and c.e.o.l rescue committee. >> as bad as this is, over three million people so far, how bad do you think it might get? >> how much we hope for the best, we should plan for the worst. and planning for the worst means figures of five, or even 10 million people leaving the country. >> reporter: those kinds of dire predictions have triggered a never before used directive that allows refugees to stay and work in e.u. countries for up to three years. >> the approach was, let people in first, do the paperwork second. that's a very significant reaction, and it speaks to the scale of the crisis. >> reporter: but milliband says the exit out of ukraine is only part of the problem. >> we have to remember for every person who makes it out of ukraine, there are 10 still inside ukraine. >> reporter: it has left them virtually cut off. those who can leave, carry with them baggage of a different sort. including those covering the conflict, like award-winning photojournalist peter. >> i ran into a journalist, a

i was listening to david miliband for the international rescue committee earlier talking to the bbc,never then able to return home-— and they were never then able to return home. i think this is why an agreement — return home. i think this is why an agreement is _ return home. i think this is why an agreement is so _ return home. i think this is why an agreement is so important, i return home. i think this is why an l agreement is so important, because there needs to be clear information about where people are going so people can ultimately make a choice that works for them. there needs to be clear agreements in place with this information so people can choose what they want to do. that is one really important thing. what i also want to underscore its civilians, regardless of where they are, whether they are in a bus, civilians, regardless of where they are, whetherthey are in a bus, in their home, any hospital, in a so—called humanitarian corridor, they need to be protected from attack. they are protected by international humanitarian law, which are the rules that govern armed confl

. >> former british foreign secretary, now leader of international aid grurngs david miliband urged u.s. lawmakers to act urgently and change policy to address the humanitarian crisis in afghanistan, mr. miliban's plea came before testimony in a foreign nations subcommittee. this is just under 90 minutes. >> subcommittee to order today for a hearing on a critical topic, the humanitarian crisis in afghanistan. i'll start with a few opening remarks and turn it over to senator young to introduce the witnesses. i think we'll be joined by a number of colleagues so we'll try to be brief in our opening remarks. let me start by saying my belief is president biden made the right decision to remove our remaining troops from afghanistan. the american people, by a large margin, support that decision. the overnight collapse of the afghan army and the government was, to me, proof that 20 years of nation building had failed and another 20 years, frankly, was not going to end in a different result. the scenes of the withdrawal were hard to watch and there's no doubt mistakes were made. the state depart