UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement yesterday that the Covid-19 epidemic "unleashes a flood of hatred and xenophobia", without mentioning a specific country or individuals, calling for "doing everything we can" to put an end to this.
Guterres said in the statement that "anti-foreign sentiment worsened on the Internet and in the streets, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories were spread out, and Muslims were subjected to pandemic-related attacks."
He added that "immigrants and refugees were accused of being the source of the virus and then they were denied medical treatment, and ugly ideas suggested that the elderly who are most affected by the disease are also the first to be dispensed with."
"The fingers refer to journalists, whistle-blowers, health workers, aid workers and human rights defenders, not because they are only doing their duty," the secretary-general of the international organization said.
In his statement, Guterres affirmed, "Today I make an appeal for action to do everything we can to end hate speech worldwide."
Guterres appealed to "educational institutions," in particular, to "focus on digital literacy at a time when the Internet is frequented by billions of young people, when extremists seek to gain followers by promoting their ideas among detainees and those who may be desperate for feelings of despair."
He also asked "all people everywhere to oppose hatred and treat each other with dignity, and to take every opportunity to spread the values of kindness."