The kicker: HRW issued the report on Holocaust Remembrance Day.

ISTANBUL (AP) — Western governments fearful of terror attacks and the potential threat posed by refugees are adopting counterproductive policies in the name of security, Human Rights Watch said in its world report Wednesday.

HRW executive director Kenneth Roth said “fear of being killed or starved” drove millions of people to flee Syria and other conflict zones in 2015, while fear of “what that influx of asylum-seekers would mean, particularly in Europe, led many governments to try to raise the gates” to block refugees.

He chided Europe and the United States for allowing fear of terrorism — particularly since November’s Paris attacks — to give rise to “blatant Islamophobia and shameless demonizing of refugees” which alienates the very communities that could help in counterterrorism efforts.

“As a counterterrorism measure, Islamophobia is the last thing you would want,” he said.