UN rights chief attacks US over Dreamers as ‘apocalypse’ unfolds in Syria and Myanmar covers up possible genocide
In an annual report High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein also called for an investigation into extrajudicial killings in Venezuela
The UN human rights chief on Wednesday took aim at repressive policies being pursued in the United States and Europe, and increasingly harsh treatment of migrants, while warning of crimes against humanity in Venezuela, apocalyptic attacks in Syria and possible “acts of genocide” in Myanmar.
In an annual report to the UN Human Rights Council, High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein also took democracies to task for failing to respect basic rights.
“In the United States, I am shocked by reports that many migrants intercepted at the southern borders, including children, are detained in abusive conditions – such as freezing temperatures – and that some young children are being detained separately from their families,” he said.
“Detentions and deportations of long-standing and law-abiding migrants have sharply increased, tearing families apart and creating enormous hardship.”
The administration of US President Donald Trump had also ended the Central American Minors Refugee and Parole Programme, which offered adolescents and children “a lifeline to safety”, and ended Temporary Protected Status for hundreds of thousands of people.
“I deplore the continuing uncertainty about beneficiaries of the DACA programme,” Zeid said, referring to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which protects roughly 700,000 “Dreamers” – mostly young Hispanics – from deportation and lets them work.