On Monday, Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, denounced the “politicization” of the immigration issue during elections in Europe, and accused some politicians of exploiting it and “manipulating” it to their advantage.
Grandi said, in a press interview, “We all agree that the issue represents a challenge.” But, he added, “portraying it as ill-intentioned invaders coming to steal your jobs, threatening your values and your security, and therefore they have to leave, and we have to build barriers, does not solve the problem.”
He believed that these measures only exacerbate the situation because they encourage irregular migration, which is “difficult to manage.”
In response to a question about the recent European elections and the American election campaign, Grande said, “His only major concern is that the issue of immigration and refugees has become very politicized… and this is partly due to some politicians’ manipulation of the issue.”
He called on countries to work together to find solutions.
“This is the right way to go,” he said, even if it seems “less exciting” politically and “very difficult to explain to voters.”
Grandi stressed that he feels “worried” after the rise of the far right in the European elections on Sunday, “because everyone is looking at Europe.”
At the beginning of May, UNHCR Special Envoy for the Central and Western Mediterranean Vincent Cochetel emphasized that “if European values related to refugee protection collapse, we will see the same trend elsewhere.”
“Europe serves as a major role model,” he told reporters in Geneva, urging the continent to set a good example that “allows us to make progress on protection elsewhere in the world.”
The United Nations confirms that the flow of refugees to developing countries is greater than to rich countries.
Grandi pointed out that “the number of people who crossed the Mediterranean Sea during the first months of the year ranged between 60 to 70 thousand people,” adding that “Chad received 600 thousand Sudanese in one year, that is, ten times that.”
Grandi expressed his hope that “the anti-immigration and anti-refugee rhetoric that we heard during the campaign will subside” after the end of the European elections.
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