Brussels, 29/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - In its 2009 report on human rights in the world, published on Thursday 28 May, Amnesty International (AI) highlights the severe consequences of the economic crisis when it comes to human rights. Irene Khan, AI Secretary General says: “The world is sitting on a social, political and economic time bomb fuelled by a human rights crisis”. Information gathered in 157 countries reveals that billions of people suffer from a lack of security and justice, and live in a way that deprives them of dignity. The poorest populations are the first victims. This situation also concerns European countries and, in the Czech Republic and Hungary in particular, have given rise to an upsurge in xenophobia and aggression against the most vulnerable groups of society, such as immigrants or the Roma. Already faced with extreme poverty, many asylum seekers and migrants have undergone discrimination and do not have access to employment or social benefits. In Germany, for example, migrants benefit from only limited access to medical care and to the right to initiate legal proceedings when their working rights are flouted. On this subject, Amnesty International mainly regretted the adoption in December 2008 of the directive on the return of illegal migrants that could bring down the level of protection existing in Union member states. Also, security has sometimes been invoked for the setting up policies and practices that have not in fact served security interests: - attacks against human rights on behalf of the fight against terrorism, and impunity of those responsible for reprehensible acts. States such as Spain, Italy, Denmark, Germany and the United Kingdom were willing to stress “diplomatic assurances” devoid of any guarantee to justify the transfer of presumed terrorists to countries where they might be tortured or ill treated. Irène Khan then concluded that “solutions to global problems must be founded on universal values linked to human rights”. For the report see: http://www.thereport.amnesty.org/en . (H.D./transl.jl)