UN: Human rights abuses, social exclusion fuel terrorism

More than 30,000 foreign terrorist fighters from over 100 countries have travelled to the Middle East in recent years to join groups like Daesh and Al-Qaeda, the UN was told yesterday.

UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, told the UN Security Council: “Their presence over expanses of territory and accumulation of resources and weaponry pose an increased threat to regional and international peace and security. Some foreign fighters have already returned to their home countries spreading violence in their own communities.”

Over 30,000 foreign terrorist fighters from over 100 Member States have travelled to the #MiddleEast #UN

— Nickolay E. MLADENOV (@nmladenov) April 20, 2017

During the lengthy briefing, which included an update on the situation in Syria, Iraq, Palestine and the wider Middle East, Mladenov went on to say that the “perfect storm has engulfed the Middle East and continues to threaten international peace and security”, pointing to the millions that have been displaced in the biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War.

Read: Half of Iraqi families at risk of hunger after years of war

Mladenov paid tribute to victims in the region and called on the international community to show its full and unwavering commitment to defeat terror and incitement while commenting on the reasons for the rise of terrorism.

Across the Middle East, social exclusion and marginalisation in areas of prolonged conflicts feed the rise of violent extremism.

Across #MiddleEast, social exclusion and marginalisation in areas of prolonged conflicts feed the rise of violent extremism #UN

— Nickolay E. MLADENOV (@nmladenov) April 20, 2017

Adding also that human rights abuse in the Middle East was serving to reinforce the fundamental drivers of extremism and violence in the region.