UNITED NATIONS - The head of the UN refugee agency, Filippo Grandi, has warned that a deadly attack on two New Zealand mosques was the result of the worst “toxic language” in politics and media toward refugees, migrants and foreigners that he had witnessed in his more than 30 years as an international civil servant.  “I have never seen such toxicity, such poison in the language of politics, in media, in social media, even in everyday discussions and conversations around this issue,” Grandi told the UN Security Council on Tuesday during a meeting on the global refugee situation.

Among the consequences of the toxic language surrounding refugees and migration, he said, was the attack on Muslims worshippers in Christchurch.