March 21 was established in 1966 by the United Nations General Assembly as the Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination to commemorate the tragic event of the cold-blooded murder of 70 students peacefully demonstrating against apartheid in South Africa on March 21, 1960.
Since then, unfortunately, discrimination has not been curtailed. They change colour and form and target anyone deemed to be different.
That is why today is not only a day of remembrance, but also a reminder of our obligation as a state and society to unite our voices to protect the potential victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance.
With a legal arsenal now sufficiently fortified, each individual is expected to avoid acts that lead to hate speech, racist violence or hate crimes.
For even if even today the racist motivation of crimes is an aggravating factor when calculating the sentence, this alone is not enough to prevent such heinous behaviour.
There is a need to raise awareness among citizens and to train frontline officials to recognise and deal with such offences, which is why our Office, in cooperation with the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe), organises a series of trainings in the Republic of Cyprus aimed at recognising, understanding and combating hate crimes, while our interventions to raise awareness and combat racism are also systematic.
By way of example, I would like to mention our recent interventions, on the occasion of racist incidents in the field of sport, where it was underlined that respect and recognition of the right of all people, without exception, to equal and dignified participation in society, in all its manifestations, constitute the foundations of a democratic society, and, on the other hand, racist attacks against convenience food distributors with the sole reason and cause being the different origin of the victims, it was noted in our intervention that they do not only harm the dignity of the victims but also offend the culture and values of our own state and society.
The changes that humanity is facing with such speed cause surprise, but should not paralyze us.
After the pandemic, the war in Ukraine is the cry that echoes across the entire globe.
And if the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in a message on the occasion of today, applauds the welcome given to Ukrainian refugees in neighbouring countries, stressing that the wave of support for them around the world highlights shared human values and the power of solidarity. It also recalls that refugees fleeing conflicts in other parts of the world are not treated in the same way because of their colour or origin but are victims of discrimination, violence and racism.
Inevitably, the marginalisation and reinforcement of intolerant stereotypes against fellow human beings with specific characteristics leads to the development of racist attitudes and fosters feelings of hatred.
The demonisation of diversity and its projection as a threat to the cohesion of local communities intensifies the exclusion and disenfranchisement of our fellow human beings.
To this end, those with influence on local communities should refrain from intolerant statements that breed xenophobia and racism, but on the contrary, everyone without exception should work together to promote acceptance of diversity and refrain from acts, actions and statements that poison society and imbue it with racist attitudes and fear of anything different.
And our just memory today cannot fade away.
It is inevitably rekindled, with the war in Ukraine, and goes back to our own uprooting in 1974, with the invasion and occupation of part of our homeland by the Turkish army.
The bare feet that ran disorderly to save themselves, the refugeeism that brought a new "home", the suspicion that greeted the eyes of desperation and need, cannot today leave us indifferent to the millions of refugees that unfold before us.
For we who know what it means to be a refugee also know the richness that every diversity, every culture, every human being can bring.
For we who know what it means to be a refugee also know the richness that every diversity, every culture, every human being can bring. Let us not close our doors.
(EK/SX)
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Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or PIO
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