Human Rights Chief Cites Both Positives and Negatives in U.S. Record

Speaking to the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday, March 6, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, took special note of the record number of women serving in the U.S. Congress.  She observed, “[t]hey included the first Muslim American Congresswoman, the first Native American Congresswoman, and the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.  I hail all powerful women around the world and the model they present to the next generation.”

In the same speech, Bachelet offered a negative view of U.S. immigration policy, cautioning against new restrictions that simply “push migrants back across the border”, while also expressing concern that “thousands more migrant children have been separated from their families than had been previously reported”.

She observed that “involuntary and precarious” migration was “driven by inequality in the form of poverty, discrimination, oppression, violence, poor governance, climate change – and violations of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.”  Rather than settle for short-term bandaids to address the issue, Bachelet urged all nations, rich and poor, “to adopt principled and more effective policies, grounded in the full range of human rights.”