Migrant Workers May Face Increased Xenophobia

In an address to a Special Session of the Human Rights Council, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, appealed to states and the corporate world to ensure that their policies and practices do not jeopardize people’s human rights. Ms. Pillay warned that the downturn in economies around the world was likely to “undermine access to work, affordability of food and housing, as well as of water, basic health care and education.”

She urged states to “ensure that domestic policy adjustments, particularly those in fiscal spending, are not taken at the expense of the poor through cutbacks in basic services and social protection mechanisms.” “A human rights approach will contribute to making solutions more durable in the medium and long run,” she told the gathering of government delegates, international organizations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Ms. Pillay underscored the necessity “to identify the specific needs and entitlements of vulnerable groups and individuals, particularly women and children, migrants, refugees, indigenous peoples, minorities and persons with disabilities.