The US agency rejects the US candidate

GENEVA – The United Nations agency for migration on Friday rejected the US candidate to head the country, a heavy blow to the US leadership of an organization that s & # 39; attack at one of the world's most pressing problems. A Socialist Commissioner and former Commissioner of the European Union, Antonio Vitorino, won the race to be the next Director General of the International Organization for Migration, ahead of both a senior official of the European Union. agency and the US candidate Ken. Isaacs, the body said in a statement

Vitorino, 61, will become the second chief executive of the group, not the United States since the establishment of the intergovernmental organization. Former Commissioner of the European Union for Internal and Judicial Affairs, he has been chairman of the Notre Europe think tank for the past seven years and is considered very close to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, also a Portuguese socialist in beginning of his political career.

Isaacs was eliminated in the first rounds of voting, and Vitorino won by acclaim on Costa Rica's Vice President Laura Thompson, currently deputy chief executive of the agency who wanted to become the first woman head of the agency. comes that the administration of President Donald Trump has withdrawn or repulsed international institutions, two of which are based in Geneva: Earlier this month, the United States withdrew from the US Human Rights Council. United Nations and Trump recently criticized the World Trade Organization. "Unjust" to the United States

"Yet another sign that the power, authority and prestige of the United States has been so dramatically diminished," tweeted Keith Harper, who was the ambassador to the United States. President Barack Obama's Rights Council. The "[International Organization for Migration] director is considered an" American seat "and Trump was unable to place an American there."

The US State Department congratulated Vitorino, calling the vote "very competitive election with three highly qualified candidates."

"[International Organization for Migration] is an important partner for the United States in the world and we are determined to work with [International Organization for Migration] to address the root causes of migration and promote legal and safe migration, "

The candidacy of Isaacs had been overshadowed by the policies such as travel bans and separations of migrant families, and his own comments that critics have called anti-Muslim. But few diplomats coming out of a Geneva conference center dared to give an explanation on how an American was stripped of a post that the United States has held for decades.

A Senegalese diplomat, Youssoupha Ndiaye, simply spoke of The first result: "The American is out."

Vitorino, who was chosen by the paying members, voting among the 172 countries of the agency, will succeed the long-time American diplomat William Lacy Swing, who leaves in September

Intergovernmental body that became a United Nations-related agency in 2016, the International Organization for Migration has had only one director general who has not been American since its inception 67 years ago.

But Mark Hetfield, describing Isaacs' friend who heads the HIAS humanitarian group, who works with the migration agency, put the blame on the policy and the invective of the man at the White House, not the candidate for the job.

was not about Ken Isaacs, for whom I have a lot of respect as a humanitarian, "said Hetfield." The election was an international referendum rejecting the President Trump and his xenophobic, Islamophobic and isolationist policies. "

" Let's face it, Isaacs' tweets were no worse than those coming out of the White House, "he said. added.The administration is fresh off major international disregard over the separation of families crossing the Mexican border.The US Supreme Court has also upheld the ban on Trump's travel for citizens. from several countries, most of which are Muslim.

Trump also ripped the United States out of the Global Compact for Migration – a fact that several diplomats, who requested anonymity because they do not want to do so. were not allowed to speak publicly about the poll, cited as a worrying sign of US policy on an issue that has vast implications in the world.

Isaacs himself had been on the defensive of other social media comments that some critics viewed as anti-Muslim, so much so that he closed his Twitter account. After that, he carefully managed his appearances in the media and kept the script, with State Department agents advising him or towing him.

The Migration Agency has more than 10,000 employees in more than 150 countries. His job is to provide humanitarian aid to migrants and help monitor migrant deaths in the Mediterranean. It also helps to resettle migrants accepted by foreign countries – and sometimes sends them home.

A section on 30/06/2018