Stop ethnic profiling and hate speech

On Tuesday, March 21 the world marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, with this year’s theme being racial profiling and incitement to hatred, including in the context of migration. This is significant in view of the emergence of the explosive Donald Trump as President of the United States and his two executive orders imposing a temporary ban on immigrants from six Muslim majority countries. In the states of Hawaii and Maryland, federal judges have ruled that Mr. Trump’s orders are illegal. The judges went beyond the letter of the law and gave a contextual ruling provoking the Twitter tycoon to accuse the judiciary of going beyond its limits. But many legal analysts have praised the rulings as judicial activism. The trend towards populism, which started with the Brexit in Britain, set off a political nuclear explosion with the election of Donald Trump and has cast a cloud over upcoming elections in the mainline European Union states of France and Germany. Thankfully, Holland on Wednesday gathered up plenty of Dutch courage to reject Populism or extremism and give new hope for moderation and the respect for diversity.   

According to a United Nations statement, every person is entitled to human rights without discrimination. Yet in many parts of the world, discriminatory practices are still widespread, including racial, ethnic, religious and nationality based profiling and incitement to hatred. According to the UN, racial and ethnic profiling is defined as a reliance by law enforcement, security and border control personnel on race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin as a basis for subjecting people to detailed searches, identity checks and investigations or for determining whether an individual is engaged in criminal activity.   

Refugees and migrants are particular targets of racial profiling and incitement to hatred. Last year with wars raging in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other countries, the number of refugees or migrants reached the highest proportions since the Second World War. While the US, Britain and other countries reacted negatively if not wickedly by slamming the door in the face of people suffering from deep despair and destitution, countries like Germany responded in an enlightened way with Chancellor Angela Merkel risking even her political career to accommodate about one million refugees. Not surprisingly Mr. Trump slammed Chancellor Merkel for her liberal or merciful policies. The two leaders met at the White House on Thursday and reports indicated that Chancellor Merkel told President Trump that the US - German relationship needs to be value- based and not just a business partnership.   

In the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, adopted in September 2016, United Nations Member States strongly condemned acts and manifestations of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance against refugees and migrants. It asked members states to give a commitment to a range of steps to counter such attitudes and behaviours, particularly regarding hate crimes, hate speech and racial violence.   

In September last year, a Summit for Refugees and Migrants sparked “Together”, a United Nations initiative to promote respect, safety and dignity for refugees and migrants. It aims to change negative perceptions and attitudes towards refugees and migrants, in partnership with Member States, civil society and the private sector.   

The UN Human Rights Office is asking people around the world to stand up for Someone’s Rights Today. The campaign, launched on Human Rights Day 2016, aims to encourage and support actions in our daily lives to defend the human rights of others. Wherever we are, we can make a difference. It starts with each one of us.   

In Sri Lanka the national government is giving high priority to multi-ethnic and multi-religious unity in diversity. President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe have  repeatedly called upon all political parties, religious groups and others to work proactively, towards reconciliation and lasting peace. While we sincerely practice our own religious or cultural beliefs or traditions, we need to respect the beliefs and traditions of others to bring about unity which could be sustained by the parallel economic process of bringing about a more equitable distribution of wealth and resources. So let us mark this year with a personal resolution to stop racial or ethnic profiling and 
hate speech.