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Addressing Xenophobic Violence in Wake of International Migrants Day

12-20-2011

By Paul LeGendre
Director, Fighting Discrimination Program

Just last week, an Italian man with links to an extremist group went on a shooting spree in Florence, killing two Senegalese traders and injuring another three before turning the gun on himself. This is the latest in a long line of violent xenophobic attacks targeting refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and other ‘outsiders.’ They have become a common occurrence in many parts of the world.

In marking International Migrant’s day yesterday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed concern that irregular migrants are vulnerable to xenophobic violence and hate crimes. He also reaffirmed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights declaration that “all persons” are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law.

Earlier this month, UN High Commissioner for Refugees António Guterres urged states to take a strong stand against xenophobia and other forms of intolerance.  At a Ministerial Meeting held earlier this month at the Palais des Nations to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 50th anniversary of the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, High Commissioner Guterres stressed that:  “Governments… must have the courage to take a strong stance against intolerance, discrimination, racism and xenophobia.” Combating xenophobia was also among the issues on which States were encouraged to make new refugee protection commitments, or “pledges” – the full range of which will be made public by the UNHCR in early 2012.

On December 6, in advance of the Ministerial meeting addressing these topics, Human Rights First released its report Combating Xenophobia: A Framework for Action that documents xenophobic and other bias-related violence in 15 countries. The report also provides recommendations for states, UN agencies and civil society on steps they can take to address this global problem. Human Rights First previously raised concerns regarding xenophobia refugee protection and helped to organize panel events at the 2010 UNHCR NGO Consultations and the 2009 UNHCR Executive Committee meeting.

As outlined in Human Rights First’s Framework for Action, addressing xenophobic and other forms of bias-related violence is a critical component of protecting the human rights of refugees, migrants and other foreign nationals, as well as promoting social cohesion and protecting vulnerable members of society. States can and should take a number of practical actions to combat xenophobic and other bias-motivated violence.  Read more about our recommendations for such action here.


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  • eslaporte

    A problem that we face is that violence and potential terrorism against immigrant and Muslims communities is simply not being taken seriously. What we have instead is an excessive amount of resourses being mobilized against the almost non-existent “Islamist and jihadist terrorist ,threat.” As a result, Muslim communities especially, are view as “potential terrorist communities” and not potiental victim communities. There is also the notion that these communities are less deserving of police and security services than other communities.

    The reality is that leaders of European governments give propaganda points to right wing extremists when they make irresponsible statements, “like Muslims do not belong in Germany” and “multiculturalism has failed.” The burka and hijab bans are also not helpful and provide affirmation to right wing extremists. The arguments that use words like “assimilation and integration” only feed into the notion that immigrant (largely Muslim communities) have no place in the fabric of the country. Some of these arguments on “assimilation and integration” appear to mean that Muslim immigrants should abandon their Islamic faith, eating certain foods and wearing certain clothes. We should be outraged, but we call it “freedom of speech!” It is NOT “freedom of speech” for political leaders to promote hateful myths about immigrants and Muslim communities and talk as if these communities are dangerous and threatening!

    I am aware of what is going on the Netherlands, mainly, and know about how intelligence and security services use frameworks that are openly anti-Muslim. I have heard that the intelligence and security services of the country have been deployed to spy on immigrant (Muslim) youth who hang out at parks and festivals. At the same time there have been numerous attacks over the past few years against mosques, which include threatening letters, to arson, to an attempted bomb attack. The big “security threat” is a small group called Sharia4Holland that has no support from anybody. What should be investigated in the Netherlands is how anti-terrorism laws and practices are applied, as they appear to be openly biased toward Muslims (such as using religious criteria to determine who is “radicalized” and when to apply anti-terrorism enhancement penalties) in terms of respect for human rights of all groups in the Netherlands.

    Life in Western democratic nations requires a certain amount of tolerance for difference of religious and expression. This must be acknowledged by European leaders. What also is required for democratic nations is the NO person should be viewed as a “deserving victim” or not worthy of police and security protection because of their religious or ethnic background. All communities should be protected from terrorism and violence, including Muslim communities, as this is a requirement for the rule of law to prevail in a democratic society.