Al-Jaafari: Racial discrimination is a global affliction that negatively affects human rights

United Nations General Assembly convened on Wednesday a high-level meeting to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Program on Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Other Related Forms of Intolerance.

At its 76th session, the President of the General Assembly, the UN Secretary-General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the President of South Africa made statements emphasizing the importance of the Declaration and its program.

Dr. Bashar Al-Jaafari, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, delivered the statement of the Syrian Arab Republic, in which he affirmed that the Syrian delegation welcomes the convening of this international conference, which is a prominent event in the struggle to improve the lives of millions of people who are victims of discrimination and intolerance around the world.

The Durban Declaration and Program was adopted by consensus after a wide series of discussions in which the delegation of Syria actively and in good faith participated and formed a new ground and an important new framework to guide governments and other stakeholders in their efforts to combat racism and racial discrimination.

Al-Jaafari noted that while progress has been made since 2001, there is a continued need for genuine political will to commit to the committed implementation of the Declaration and its Program.  

Al-Jaafari pointed out that in the midst of the global emergency represented by the outbreak of the “Covid 19” pandemic, some attempted to politicize Corona virus and employ it for purposes that contradict the objectives of the Durban Declaration and Program. They instigate xenophobia, intolerance, misinformation, Islamophobia, and discredit the victims that the Durban Declaration and Program identified such as immigrants, refugees and people of African and Asian descent. 

Al-Jaafari went on to say: “In the context of the continuation of its anti-Syrian policies, the ruling Turkish party, along with a group of supportive Turkish political parties and others in some Western countries, have been feeding feelings of hostility against Syrian refugees for a few years. Thus the Syrian refugees have turned these disputes into a fuel igniting a political war between international parties. The Syrian refugees have been exploited as a cheap political blackmail card to pressure the European Union.

The Deputy Minister stressed the importance of removing obstacles facing the realization of the right of peoples to self-determination, especially peoples who are subject to colonial domination or other forms of foreign domination or foreign occupation that have negative effects on their social and economic development.

Al-Jaafari pointed out, in this context, that the Israeli occupation authorities continue their racist and discriminatory policies against the Syrian citizens in the occupied Syrian Golan by violating their right to self-determination and their full legitimate rights. The Palestinians are still suffering from the Israeli occupation and are subjected to the most extreme practices of discrimination and racism.

Al-Jaafari stressed that the countries that suffered from these colonial settlement projects, especially African countries, have the full right to demand the governments of those countries that were adopting these discriminatory projects to pay appropriate compensation for the era of pain, looting and killing that affected them for centuries.

Al-Jaafari stressed that the practice of European companies’ policy of kidnapping millions of Africans and transporting them to the American continent is still present and is active on a regular basis, away from being held accountable for the crimes they committed against humanity.

 “Racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance represent a serious global afflict that profoundly negatively affects the enjoyment of human rights and requires a unified and comprehensive response from the international community,”  Al-Jaafari concluded by saying, “Syria is committed to exerting all efforts to eradicate this afflict and calls for providing the necessary political will and international cooperation at all levels to address all forms and manifestations of racism in order to implement the Durban Declaration and Program.

Inas Abdulkareem