Salvini Hits Back at UN as New Human Rights Chief Orders Probe into Italy ‘Racism’

Chiles President Michelle Bachelet addresses participants of the High-Level Segment of the
Getty
Virginia Hale

Matteo Salvini has said he is considering cutting United Nations (UN) funding after its new human rights chief announced she is sending teams to Italy and Austria to investigate “racism against migrants”.

Michelle Bachelet said in a statement Monday that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is set to “send personnel to Italy to evaluate reports of a sharp increase in acts of violence and racism against migrants, people of African descent and Roma”.

Italy’s interior minister and deputy prime minister said the country would refuse to “take lessons from anyone, least of all the UN”, which he described as having “again proved itself to be biased, pointlessly costly and badly informed”, noting that police have denied allegations there is a “racism emergency”.

“The UN is an organization that costs billions of euros, to which Italy gives over 100 million every year in contributions and we will weigh with our allies on the usefulness of continuing to give these 100 million euros to fund waste, embezzlement, and theft for a body that wants to give lessons to Italians and that also has countries that engage in torture and [still have] the death penalty,” Salvini continued.

“If I were the UN, I would have half a world to send inspectors to before Italy. Go look for racism elsewhere, not in Italy,” he added.

“Before doing checks on Italy, the UN should investigate its member States who ignore basic rights like freedom and equality between men and women,” Salvini added.

Speaking in her first address to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva Monday, Bachelet also expressed concern over reports of “anti-migrant violence” in Germany, in what was likely a reference to protests against migration policy in Chemnitz, which were sparked by the murder of a Cuban-German man, allegedly at the hands of asylum seekers.

Apparently unaware of the debate taking place in the EU nation after its head of domestic intelligence stated there was “no evidence” that any such attacks took place, Bachelet said: “The shocking and recent outbreak in Germany of anti-migrant violence, which appears to have been stoked by xenophobic hate speech, is worrying.”

The former leader of Chile and lifelong socialist, who opted to live in communist East Germany for some of her youth, used her speech to denounce U.S. President Donald Trump’s tougher border control policies and to demand the EU create a dedicated search and rescue mission to ferry migrants from Africa to Europe, according to the Associated Press.

“Historically, people have always moved in search of hope and opportunities,” she claimed, warning that “erecting walls; deliberately projecting fear and anger on migrant communities… such policies offer no long-term solutions to anyone – only more hostility, misery, suffering and chaos.

“It is in the interest of every state to adopt migration policies that are grounded in reality, not in panic; which provide opportunities for safe, regular movement instead of forcing people to take lethal risks,” Bachelet said.

Having previously been the body’s top contributor, the U.S. pulled out of the United Nations Human Rights Council in June, calling it a “cesspool of political bias” that “makes a mockery of human rights”.

Its previous chief, a Jordanian prince, had compared Trump and European leaders opposed to open borders to ISIS, and Viktor Orbán’s efforts to stop illegal immigration in Hungary to Nazi Germany.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.