A/HRC/35/41 90. In addition to training of national police, security and border-control personnel, Governments have tried to aid in the social integration of immigrants and refugees. The Special Rapporteur was informed that, in Denmark, the municipal government in Aarhus decided that it would not criminalize the re-entry of citizens who had left the country to fight in Syria, but has instead welcomed them back with tools and support to rehabilitate and reintegrate them back into society. 65 91. In Portugal, the Government has set up a programme to facilitate the integration of migrants into the labour market with a view to avoiding the negative consequences of longterm unemployment for both nationals and migrants. 66 92. The Special Rapporteur was encouraged to learn that the Government of Canada had recently adopted legislation which allows Canadian citizens to sponsor refugees and provides for assistance and support to help refugees integrate into the new society.67 V. Conclusion 93. The Special Rapporteur would like to thank the Human Rights Council and Member States for the privilege and opportunity he has had to serve in this capacity. During his term in office, he addressed multiple aspects of racism and intolerance, from racial profiling in law enforcement and the prevention of racism, racial discrimination and related intolerance to racism on the Internet and in social media, racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in sports, the exploitation of the Internet for recruitment and incitement to racial discrimination and violence, the role of education and of data and statistics in combating racism, among others. 94. The Special Rapporteur undertook country visits to eight countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. During those visits, he had the privilege of engaging in constructive dialogue with State officials on the challenges encountered as well as progress made in combating racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia in their respective countries. The Special Rapporteur would like to thank the Governments of countries that issued invitations to visit and those that accepted his requests to visit. He remains concerned that some States have not yet favourably responded to longstanding requests by previous and the current mandate holder for an official visit and urges them to consider extending an invitation to the mandate in a timely manner. 95. Given the increase in xenophobic sentiment and racism globally as evidenced by the rise in right-wing populism, the increase in manifestations of racist and xenophobic hate crimes and xenophobic and racist attitudes in immigration and border control measures, the Special Rapporteur emphasizes that the need to continue to pay close attention to those issues is more relevant than ever. 96. Efforts to counter terrorism threats throughout the world have posed serious challenges to combating racism, xenophobia and discrimination. Strict immigration and border control measures, overly broad counter-terrorism policies and surveillance have contributed to fuelling racism, xenophobia and racial discrimination. Furthermore, the rise in hate crimes and a renewed platform for right-wing populist rhetoric, incited by growing economic disparity has resulted in the marginalization of persons or groups on the basis of their ethnic origin, religion or migration status. Against that backdrop, the Special Rapporteur felt compelled to examine those issues and to exchange and consult with experts and relevant stakeholders to propose ways of addressing them. That will be the subject of his final report to the General Assembly later this year. 65 66 67 18 See www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2016/07/15/485900076/how-a-danish-town-helped-youngmuslims-turn-away-from-isis. See http://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/migration_and_the_economic_crisis.pdf. See www.nytimes.com/2016/07/01/world/americas/canada-syrian-refugees.html.