This is the News in Brief from the United Nations.

‘End slavery’s legacy of racism’: UN chief

The impact of the slave trade remains visible in today’s racial injustices and inequalities, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday, marking the International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.

He paid tribute to the millions of African children, women and men trafficked across the Atlantic as part of the “evil enterprise of enslavement” over the course of more than four centuries. 

He emphasized slavery’s enduring legacy of racism and said that putting an end to this heritage was a “global imperative”. 

The UN chief insisted that “we must all speak out and fight racism, wherever and whenever we encounter it”.

To this end, “the most powerful weapon in our arsenal is education”, he said, stressing that teaching the history of slavery helps to guard against “humanity’s most vicious impulses”.

Greece: Rights experts condemn ‘racist violence’ against asylum-seekers

Staying with human rights: Greece must adopt “safe and impartial” border policies and practices and hold its law enforcement personnel accountable for abuses. 

That’s the message from UN-appointed independent rights experts, including Ashwini K.P., the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, who urged Greece on Wednesday to investigate alleged violations against asylum-seekers.

The experts said that they were “particularly concerned” by the failure of the country’s security personnel and coast guard to provide “prompt and effective” assistance to migrants in distress and ensure safe disembarkation and adequate reception.

Earlier this month, the experts requested detailed information from the Greek Government on a case involving 12 asylum seekers from Somalia, Eritrea and Ethiopia, including a six-month-old infant, who had reached Greek territory only to be rounded up by masked men, stripped of their belongings and forcibly taken to the port of Mytilene in Lesbos on 11 April. 

“The violence, which was captured on video – verified, and reported by the media – exposed the racist exclusion and cruelty of Europe’s border protection practices,” the experts said.

They underscored that unlawful, arbitrary, and collective expulsions of asylum seekers ran counter to the provisions of the 1951 Refugee Convention.

UNEP touts wastewater’s untapped potential as a climate solution

Wastewater is a major threat to our planet and our health, but when treated it can be a valuable alternative source of clean water, energy and nutrients, UN environment agency UNEP said on Wednesday.

In a new report, UNEP warned that only 11 per cent of the world’s treated wastewater is reused and around half of the world’s untreated wastewater still enters rivers, lakes and seas. Emissions of greenhouse gasses such as methane and nitrous oxide released by wastewater are only slightly under those of the global aviation industry.

However, the report says that with the right policies in place, wastewater could provide alternative energy to half a billion people, supply over 10 times more water than what is obtained through desalination processes and reduce the demand for synthetic fertilizers.

UNEP is advocating for improved water management and reuse, to realize wastewater’s potential as a climate solution. The UN agency also urges governments and businesses to look at wastewater as a “circular economy” opportunity, saying that its treatment can create jobs and revenue.  

Dominika Tomaszewska-Mortimer, UN News.