Moscow, April 23 (IANS/RIA Novosti) UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed the firing of a Russian migration service official over racial remarks he made in a television interview.
Konstantin Poltoranin, spokesman for the Federal Migration Service, was sacked immediately after an interview quoting him as saying: "We want to make sure the mixing of blood happens in the right way here (in Russia) ... What is now at stake is the survival of the white race."
Ban, who is in Moscow as part of an eastern European tour, also called for the respect of rights for migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
"I would like to use this opportunity to commend the authorities of the Russian Federation for the dismissal of the former spokesperson of the Federal Migration Service for his racist remarks," he said.