The pernicious "great replacement" conspiracy theories circulating in many countries are "misleading" and racist and directly incite violence, UN human rights chief Volker Turk has warned, AFP reports.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk also took aim at "the war on woke", which, as he stressed, is "actually a war on inclusivity".
Speaking to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Turk insisted that racially mixed and multicultural societies were not something to be feared, but should be seen as an asset for people everywhere.
"In many countries - including Europe and North America - I am concerned about the apparent growing influence of so-called 'great replacement' conspiracy theories based on the false notion that Jews, Muslims, non-whites and migrants seek to 'replace' or oppress the cultures and peoples of countries," he said.
"These misguided and deeply racist ideas have directly influenced many perpetrators of violence," Turk added.
The UN human rights chief warned that "along with the so-called 'war on woke', which is really a war on inclusivity, these ideas aim to exclude racial minorities - especially racial minority women - and LGBTQ people from full equality.
"Multiculturalism is not a threat. It is the history of humanity and it is profoundly beneficial to all of us," Turk said.
Turk said he regrets the escalating attacks on LGBTQ people and their rights, and that discriminatory legislation and policies are spreading.
They have recently been expanded, adopted or are being considered in Belarus, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Lebanon, Niger, Nigeria, Russia and several U.S. states.
"Recognizing the rights of LGBTQ people fits with the meaning of equality and the right of everyone to live free from violence and discrimination," he said.
Meanwhile, Turk praised the decriminalisation of same-sex consensual relationships in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Mauritius, St Kitts and Nevis and Singapore in the past two years. / BGNES
