Anti-migrant Rhetoric Surging Amid Flurry Of Elections: UN

Geneva, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd Mar, 2024) With 2024 set to see more elections worldwide than any previous year, the United Nations' migration chief says increasing anti-migrant rhetoric from politicians seeking to score points is harming societies.

While the expected rematch between US President Joe Biden and his predecessor Donald Trump in November has drawn keen attention, numerous other high-stakes ballots are also coming up this year.

Amy Pope, who last year became the first woman to head the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM), told AFP in an interview this week that with so many elections looming, anti-migrant rhetoric was ramping up "around the world ... to fuel campaigns".

Politicians, the IOM head said, were taking "what can be a very easy route to lay whatever has gone wrong within society, whether it's crime rates or inflation, unemployment or insecurity .

.. at the feet of migrants".

With around half the global population due to go to the polls in 2024, migrants were "easy" targets, she said, because "migrants don't vote".

In the United States, where migration has arguably become one of the main focuses of the presidential contest, Trump has claimed there is an "invasion" at the southern border, and suggested recently that some of those entering the country are "not people".

Such comments can have serious consequences, warned Pope, a 50-year-old US lawyer who has worked for both Democratic and Republican administrations.