The High Commissioner for Human Rights at the United Nations has spoken out: be watchful against Far-Right Political Interests in Europe, dehumanization of migrants and asylum seekers is cited.
“Because history tells us and it’s clear that particularly in Europe, hatred of others always points to something bad ahead,” Turk told reporters during a press conference. This is the alarm bell we need to strike.
Last month, right-wing parties made gains in the European Parliament with France holding second round elections this weekend as anti-immigrant nationalism races try to keep them from coming into power.
Turk has almost reached half way through his four-year term as U.N.’s human rights head who speaks out against the curtailment of liberties and has been pushing for more than a decade to strengthen refugee protection.
An Austrian national, his country became a breeding ground for anti-Semitism during the 1930s and participated in Holocaust after being annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938.
‘Unfortunately, we are seeing an increase of hate speech and discriminatory speech here on our continent: it is very important that our political leaders make it clear that hate speech must be fought against’, he concluded.
