AKEL on International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – March 21st

 

AKEL C.C. Press Office, 20th March 2020, Nicosia

This year’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination finds the planet facing the global threat of the coronavirus pandemic. US President Donald Trump may have tried to exploit the coronavirus to stir up racism against the Chinese people and the peoples of Asia, but the rest of the world does not agree with such inhumane logic. On the contrary, the pandemic’s nature and scope calls on all the states and peoples of the world to once again understand the values ​​of humanity, social solidarity, cooperation and friendship between the peoples.

The pandemic have pushed the refugee and migration issues into the background of the public debate. But the need for an effective and humane response to these issues on the basis of international conventions, human rights and solidarity remains imperative. Erdogan’s instrumetalisation of the refugee’s human suffering to serve his geopolitical plans goes hand in hand with the hypocrisy shown by the EU, which wants tens of thousands of refugees trapped on the Greek islands and the rest of the southern Mediterranean. The rejection of Erdogan’s inhumane blackmailing policy also implies the rejection of the policy of the EU, the Dublin Regulation and the EU-Turkey Agreement, as well as the assumption of responsibility by all EU member states to accommodate refugees according to the population and capabilities of each state.

AKEL once again declares that it isn’t the refugees who are our enemies, but those who create refugees and uproot the peoples; those who are doubly exploiting foreign workers to maximise their profits.

Due to the pandemic and emergency measures around the world, there are no meetings and mobilizations held to honour the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination this year. The messages of this Day, however, remain strong. Messages against racism, xenophobia and hatred. Messages that unite all people throughout the world who refuse to prioritize people on the basis of colour, origin and religion.