United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, yesterday said that managing national borders cannot be based on any form of discrimination, and expressed concern at decisions around the world that have undermined the integrity of the international refugee protection regime.

According to the UN News Centre, Mr. Guterres, said, "Refugees fleeing conflict and persecution are finding more and more borders closed and increasingly restricted access to the protection they need and are entitled to receive, according to international refugee law."

Mr. Guterres added that countries have the right, and the obligation, to responsibly manage their borders to avoid infiltration by members of terrorist organisations, and he cautioned that this cannot be based on any form of discrimination related to religion, ethnicity or nationality, noting that doing so "is against the fundamental principles and values on which our societies are based."

The statement follows US President Donald Trump's signing last Friday of an Executive Order that, among other things, suspends the US Refugee Programme for 120 days, and bars entry of refugees from several mostly Muslim countries, including Syria, until further notice.

The Secretary-General also warned, "It could trigger widespread anxiety and anger that may facilitate the propaganda of the very terrorist organisations we all want to fight against, and that blind measures, not based on solid intelligence, tend to be ineffective as they risk being bypassed by, what are today, sophisticated global terrorist movements."