UN chief rejects Donald Trump's political rhetoric of Islamophobia

Rejecting political rhetoric that promotes Islamophobia and xenophobia, UN Secretary-General wants that the call made by Republican presidential aspirant Donald Trump to ban the entry of Muslims into the US should not be supported by anyone.

"Without getting into the rhetoric of a political campaign, because, of course, all political campaigns in all countries have a fair amount of rhetoric. (But) of course, you're aware of the Secretary-General's longstanding concerns against all forms of xenophobia and all forms of sentiment against migrants or groups on the basis of race or religion," Ban's deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters yesterday.

"And that would certainly apply in this case," Haq added.

Haq was responding to a query on the Secretary-General's reaction to Trump calling for a ban on entry of Muslims into the US after a mass shooting in California by Pakistan-born Tashfeen Malik and her husband Syed Rizwan Farook.

Fourteen people were killed and 21 wounded in the rampage.

Haq said while different political campaigns have their own dynamics, "we do not believe that any kind of rhetoric that relies on Islamophobia, xenophobia - any other appeal to hate any groups - really should be followed by anyone."

Trump, 69, is facing backlash and severe criticism from various quarters, including his own party, for the comment.

Spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency Melissa Fleming said in Geneva that Trump's remark could threaten the programme for resettling Syrian refugees in the US.

"What (Trump) was speaking of was an entire population but this also impacts the refugee programme," she said.

The comment by Trump, a business tycoon-turned-White House aspirant, is perhaps the most provocative response yet by a presidential candidate to last week's shooting spree in California by a married Pakistani couple who the FBI said had been "radicalised for some time".

His stunning remarks came just a day after Barack Obama called for rejecting religious tests for admission into the US, and Trump had joined leading Republican presidential candidates in lashing out at the President for not identifying radical Islam as the main threat.