The new UN human rights chief is warning of abuses worldwide, citing among others the Trump administration’s “unconscionable” separations of migrant families and urging Europe to create a dedicated search and rescue operation for migrants in the Mediterranean.
Michelle Bachelet made her first address to the Human Rights Council as it opened a three-week session Monday. The former Chilean president became UN High Commissioner for Human Rights this month.
She denounced a lack of “redress” for migrant families who were separated by US authorities after being detained in a now-discontinued practice of separating children from their families.
According to prepared remarks, Bachelet said “attacks and persecution appear to be continuing” against the Rohingya minority in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
She expressed concern about “ongoing military operations” in Syria’s rebel-held Idlib province.