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Add to Preferred SourcesMore must be done to thwart neo-Nazis and white supremacists who are using the COVID-19 pandemic to target minorities, increase their ranks, and re-write history, the UN Secretary-General has said.
António Guterres made the impassioned appeal in a video message for the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust, observed on January, 27, which honours the six million Jews and millions of others murdered by the Nazis during the Second World War.
As this year’s anniversary is taking place under the shadow of the pandemic, he noted that the crisis has exposed longstanding injustices and contributed to a renewed rise in antisemitism and xenophobia.
Denial and distortion
“Today, white supremacists and neo-Nazis are resurgent, organizing and recruiting across borders, intensifying their efforts to deny, distort and rewrite history including the Holocaust”, the UN chief said.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has given them new opportunities to target minorities, based on religion, race, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, disability, and immigration status. We must make urgent joint efforts to stop them.”
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, has also voiced concern over the “frightening” increase in hate crimes, and “sharp rise” in antisemitism online, over the past year.
“With renewed vigour, conspiracy theorists increasingly link extreme political ideologies and antisemitic delusions – weaving elaborate lies and falsehoods that lay responsibility for every kind of government failing on individual Jews or the Jewish community as a whole”, she said.
“Whipped up by irresponsible opinion-leaders – and amplified and legitimised by the uniquely powerful engines of digital media – these hate-filled fabrications are deeply damaging in themselves and can pose a real threat of violence.”
Heal broken societies
As countries focus on recovery after the pandemic, the UN Secretary-General called for action to address the fragilities and gaps it has revealed.
“This year must be a year of healing. Healing from the pandemic, and healing our broken societies in which hatred has all too easily taken root”, he said.
“As we remember those who died in the Holocaust and honour the survivors, our best tribute is the creation of a world of equality, justice, and dignity for all.”