IPU moot: Immigrants facing racism, says acting NA speaker

ISLAMABAD:

The Acting Speaker National Assembly Murtaza Javed Abassi has called for collective parliamentary efforts to address discrimination against immigrants.

“Parliaments have an obligation to combat racial intolerance against foreign workers,” he said addressing the General Assembly of the 133rd Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Geneva, according to a message received from Switzerland on Monday.

Being from a country that has hosted a refugee population for over three decades, Abassi called for swift action on the refugee crisis in Europe.

He said that the parliaments being the forums of legislation can debate the extent of liberalising the cross-border movement, the perceived threat the migrants pose to the economic security of the host citizens and also the national security.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 20^th, 2015.