UN human rights chief blasts politicians over statements against refugees

BRUSSELS, March 14 (KUNA) -- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, expressed concern Monday over the ill-treatment of refugees, migrants and minority groups like Muslims in Europe.
Speaking at a press conference on his first visit to Brussels, he condemned as "disgraceful and shameful bigotry and xenophobia expressed by many politicians in the European continent.
"Europe is one of the strongest continent in defending the human rights framework and it is a great irresponsibility expressed by politicians who seek to distort or pervert the realities that we see in a way that will serve them politically and serve them very narrow agenda is lamentable" Al Hussein said.
"In the opinion of the UN those who have arrived in Europe from the 10 largest sources of refugees and migrants would qualify as refugees and 40 percent of them are children," Al Hussein added.
Al Hussein said he will meet with senior officials of the European Union, NATO, the Government of Belgium, during his visit to Brussels, and discuss the migrant and refugee crisis, erosion of the rule of law in some EU countries, and the EU's global role in relation to human rights.
The UN human rights chief said he is interested to hear from them how they envisage in addressing this crisis in a way that is in line with refugee and international human rights standards.
A veteran multilateral diplomat, Al Hussein served previously as Jordan's Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, and as Ambassador to the US.
Al Hussein expressed concerns about border closures in the Western Balkans, saying these closures are meant to restore order "but what we see rather is humanitarian crisis.
"Certainly Europe doesn't seem to have any other message than go away," Al Hussein said.
He also expressed concern about last week's EU's proposal to return all migrants and refugees from Greece to Turkey.
On EU and human rights, he said "we are always encouraging the EU and its members to uphold human rights and to set a good example to the world." "Of course it is difficult to inspire others to do exactly that when it can be pointed out that the inconsistencies in the application of policy in respect of the law between these two parts, the internal and the external," he noted.
"One of the worrying developments in this regard has been the apparent backsliding in terms of rule of law in two EU member states, Hungary and Poland," he said.
Al Hussein also expressed concern about the human rights situation of vulnerable groups like the Muslims and Roma and other minorities in Europe.
"There is no doubt that the Muslim communities feel insecure in Europe.
Other minorities as well, not just the Muslims communities have been targets of hate speech by a number of different groups," Al Hussein said.
"We need to reassert some common sense in this discussion because where will the world be if we do not stop it at some point. In 10 to 15 years the world will be an uncontrollable space," he warned.
The UN human rights chief argued that the Syrian crisis is a result of the failure of the international system. (end) nk.mb