US President Donald Trump's nominee to head the UN migration agency acknowledges a controversy over his social media posts on topics like climate change and Muslims, but insists that "retweets are not endorsements" and says he wants to be judged on his actions as a humanitarian.
Ken Isaacs spoke with reporters on Monday as the 169 member states of the International Organisation for Migration prepare to elect a successor to longtime diplomat William Lacy Swing as director-general in June.
An intergovernmental body that became a UN-related agency two years ago, IOM has had only one director-general who wasn't American since its creation in 1951. Portugal's Antonio Vitorino, a Socialist politician, and IOM deputy director-general Laura Thompson of Costa Rica are also in the running against Isaacs.
Isaacs, a vice president at the evangelical Christian humanitarian organisation Samaritan's Purse, which is led by Franklin Graham, pointed to his track record in the field and as a manager, saying that IOM's work is "in my wheelhouse."
I care about people. I’m passionate about this. I’ve worked in Darfur. I have worked in Jordan. I have worked in Iraq. I have worked in Syria. I have worked in Turkey. I have worked in Bangladesh. If you look at the candidates, I’m the only candidate with any ‘muddy-boot experience’.Isaacs, a vice president at the evangelical Christian humanitarian organisation
Isaacs said he sees the role of IOM director as twofold: Helping migrants and helping states manage migration issues. He said he recognizes "the sovereign rights of states to form their own domestic immigration policy" yet understands why people sometimes must leave their homes or homelands.
"I understand why people migrate — I understand what that looks like, what that smells like, what that feels like," Isaacs said. "I understand what it means to bring 15 or 20 bodies out of a camp in the morning where people migrated to run away from war and bury them."
But he said he is more than just a relief worker in the field.
"Leadership, vision, management, accountability, transparency — these are all hallmarks of Samaritan's Purse and this is who I am," he said in the interview at the US mission in Geneva. "Judge me on what I've done."
The Washington Post reported that Isaacs' comments in the media had suggested that Islam was an intrinsically violent religion and that he denied climate change.
The Post noted an exchange on Twitter in June after a terror attack in London in which Isaacs wrote "'this' is exactly what the Muslim faith instructs the faithful to do." The newspaper said it received a statement from Isaacs expressing regret for comments that "caused hurt and undermined my professional record."
CNN last week also noted a number of retweets from Isaacs of comments that criticised Muslims.
In the interview, he said: “I have retweeted many things to stimulate conversation. But at the same time ... have never shown discrimination against anybody, for anything.”
As for climate change, the United Nations and many countries have cited scientific studies that underpin their battle against global warming caused by human activity. Isaacs said he backed IOM's strategic efforts, but declined to say if he supported the science pointing to man-made climate change.
"Whether I do or whether I don't does not take away from the fact that climate disasters happen," Isaacs said, adding that he knows "the strategic objectives of IOM in regards to climate change, and I agree with those."
(The story is published with an arrangement with AP)
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