EU politicians guilty of ‘shameful bigotry’, says UN Human Rights Commissioner

Many of Europe’s politicians are guilty of “shameful bigotry and xenophobia”, the UN Human Rights Commissioner, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein told journalists in a press conference referring to the refugee crisis.

The UN security council and others could have done more to arrest the conflicts such as in Syria, but xenophobia and racism are on the rise in many parts of the world, fuelled by the rhetoric of hate.

He warned over what he said was worrying backsliding in Hungary and Poland over the rule of law, and he referenced moves against free speech, civil rights bodies, and the displacement of refugees in Hungary.

There were similar concerns over Poland, especially because of the new law that weakened the capacity of the Constitutional Court to evaluate whether new laws are in line with the Constitution and he seconded the concerns of the Venice Commission’s report last Friday.

“We join with the Council of Europe and others that urge Poland to step back from this,” he said, adding that he would ask in his meeting with the European Commission and European Parliament what steps they are taking. His intervention came ahead of meetings with senior EU officials and the summit of EU leaders on Thursday and Friday when they hope to finalise their migrant policy.

Mr Al Hussein questioned the excuse that the border closures in the Western Balkans was to restore order, saying that instead what we see on the Greek-Macedonia border was a humanitarian crisis.

“Many of the people have been through horrific experiences in Syria and are now waiting in desperate wet camps, and Europe does not seem to have any other message than ‘go away’,” he said, adding that the lessons from the Yugoslav war had not been learned.

While the details of the deal with Turkey had not been finally decided or revealed yet, he warned the blanket returns of migrants from Greece to Turkey that appeared to be part of the initial deal was forbidden under EU and international law.

Another pillar of the EU’s answer to the migrant crisis is to declare Turkey as a safe country to which people can be returned, but Mr Al Hussein says that this does not accord with the Geneva convention with Turkey applying it only to Europeans.