REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Michele Zaccheo, Chief, United Nations Television & Radio, United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was also attended by spokespersons for the United Nations Refugee Agency, International Organization for Migration, World Food Programme, and World Health Organization.

Escalation of Violence in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel

Mr. Zaccheo said that on 19 October, the United Nations Secretary-General had issued a video message to the Israeli and Palestinian people about the dangerous escalation of violence across the occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel. The video is available in English and has been subtitled in both Arabic and Hebrew. The written message is available here.

In an effort to help defuse the current tensions, Mr. Ban was travelling to the region today, 20 October, to meet with the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and with President Abbas of Palestine, and other senior officials. The Secretary-General was also expected to meet with Israeli and Palestinian victims of the recent hostilities and terrorist attacks.

The United Nations Security Council would hold an open debate on Thursday, 22 October on the situation in the Middle East, including on the Palestinian question, said
Mr. Zaccheo.

Geneva Activities

The Human Rights Council would hold a special meeting in Geneva at 12 p.m. on
28 October, to hear from the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the situation in the region. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, would also address the meeting. This was a “special meeting” and not a “special session”, said Mr. Zaccheo, noting the precedent in 2007, when the President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, had addressed the Council.

The Human Rights Committee continued its consideration of the reports Greece and San Marino, and would start with Austria this afternoon, 20 October. Suriname and the Republic of Korea would also be considered this week, and Iraq and Benin were scheduled for next week.

Asked about the date of the consultations on Yemen, Mr. Zaccheo said that the Special Envoy was going to be in New York to brief the Security Council, and that consultations in Geneva at the end of the month were not officially confirmed.

The World Health Organization (WHO) would hold a press conference at 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 21 October in Press Room 1 at which WHO would launch the most comprehensive report to date on best interventions for reducing health risks from short lived climate pollutants.

Christian Lindmeier, for World Health Organization (WHO), added that the short lived climate pollutants - black carbon, ozone and methane – not only produced a strong global warming effect, they contributed significantly to the more than seven million premature deaths annually linked to air pollution. The report would be launched in 22 October.

On Thursday, 22 October, in Press Room 1, WHO would hold a press conference on cholera outbreaks in Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain in the Middle East, and in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa, to brief the media on the situation and the possible solutions, such as a global stockpile of anti-cholera vaccine.

The Strategic Advisory Group of Experts meetings started today, 20 October, and would close on Thursday, 22 October. The Experts would discuss several kinds of vaccines, including Ebola, polio and Malaria. A press briefing on the Experts’ report and recommendations would be held on 23 October at 2 p.m. in Room III.

Answering the question on the number of cholera cases, Mr. Lindmeier said that as of 15 October, in 15 governorates in Iraq, there were estimated 1,655 laboratory confirmed cases and two deaths. In Tanzania, as of 13 October, 4,324 cases including 67 reported deaths had been registered in 13 regions; 106 cases had been reported in Zanzibar. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as of 14 October, there were 3,189 cases and 91 deaths.

European Refugee and Migration Crisis

Melissa Fleming, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that another dramatic milestone in numbers had been reached in Greece: the arrival of 8,000 people on 19 October had brought the total number of arrivals in Greece to more than half a million people (502,500). Some 643,000 refugees and migrants arrived to Europe via the Mediterranean so far. The spike of arrivals in Greece had put the pressure on the reception abilities of islands, particularly Lesbos, to manage the arrivals in dignity. Refugees and migrants were desperate, worried about news of borders closing in the north, which was making them more anxious and tense. As of the morning of
20 October, more than 27,500 persons were awaiting registration on the islands, or the onward journey. Greece was doing what it could and UNHCR stressed the utmost importance of setting up the reception centres, without which the relocation programme agreed by Europe in September was in serious peril and might fail; one system could not work without the other, she said.

There were very chaotic and miserable scenes along the routes that refugees and migrants were taking along the Balkans. The Croatian and Slovenian borders had reopened, and many had witnessed or read what people suffered through. UNHCR was there doing its best, alongside local authorities, but people were soaked to the bone, it was raining, it was cold and it was miserable, and Ms. Fleming warned that this was a little curtain raiser of what was to come in the winter months that were going to be even colder and even more miserable. Because of border closure, there was a backlog, but movement of persons had resumed and the UNHCR office in Austria reported that 4,300 persons had arrived via the Slovenian border. There were zero arrivals from the border with Hungary, where until recently, 7,000 persons would cross this border daily. The situation in Germany and Austria was very strained, as all refugees continued to favour Germany, while Austria had taken in almost the same number of refugees, in proportion to its population. Those two countries were finding it very difficult to find shelters and accommodation that met their very high standards, and refugees and migrants were sleeping in tents, awaiting better accommodation.

As people were becoming more desperate to leave, deaths increased: 19 people had died over the past nine days in five different incidents, including infants and children. Refugees reported that smugglers were offering discounts for the crossings, but the Greece Coastal Guard also reported that more and more people were being packed on the boats. The conditions on the boats and the weather conditions were making this short journey even more dangerous, and UNHCR reiterated the call for various stabilization measures in order to manage this movement.

Joel Millman, for the International Organization of Migration (IOM), reported that the daily arrivals in Greece over the weekend exceeded those of peak summer days: 8,900 had arrived on Friday, 9,100 on Saturday, and 9,200 on Sunday, for the total of 27,000 over the weekend. The number of deaths in the Aegean this week was 25, and eight migrants had been killed off the Libyan coast. IOM and some of its partners were tracking the number of casualties occurring among migrants—particularly those from Afghanistan, that were crossing Iran and Turkey to get on the same route. This information would be available next week.

Answering questions regarding the latest surge of arrivals in Greece and land versus sea routes, Ms. Fleming said that land routes were virtually closed and that sea crossing was the only possibility for refugees to reach Europe. Many Syrians arriving to Greece had come directly from Syria, either directly of via Turkey or Lebanon. From the refugees’ testimonies it was clear that they left Syria for a combination of factors – people were definitely fleeing violence but also because they saw an opportunity in Europe that was more than just safety and asylum. It was the possibility to educate the children and find work. Syrians did see Europe as a window of opportunity and were worried that it might close soon. Many believed that the time to come was now.

Ms. Fleming explained that journey from Syria to Europe typically took about one week. Refugees were arriving by boat from Latakia, others were flying from Beirut to Istanbul, and routes had become quite efficient, with people making arrangements, already inside Syria, for those who could pay. The three kilometres sea voyage to Lesbos, Greece, currently cost around $1,000 to $2,000 and smugglers were offering discounts in order to get more business before the close of the season. Mr. Millman said that smugglers might be offering discounts as they were concerned about the impact of the new Turkey and Europe agreements, and possibly their last chance to make a profit.

Answering questions related to relocation of refugees, Ms. Fleming said that many were convinced that going to Germany, Austria or Sweden was their only option. There was a need to inform the refugees of alternative destinations. Only 19 relocated from Italy so far and the hope by UNHCR was the refugees in Greece would soon become a part of this number.

Ms. Fleming said that most internal displacement in Syria was happening around Aleppo right now, but no surge in border crossings had been reported. Mr. Zaccheo said that the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had confirmed 35,000 new internally displaced persons around Aleppo. It was not clear whether they would choose to cross the border, and whether the new wave of displacement inside the country would increase the number of refugees. UNHCR did not see any movement of Syrian refugees towards the Gulf Countries.

Asked about the UNHCR's financial resources, Ms. Fleming said that it was expected that the budget would be 54 per cent funded for the year, which was ten per cent more than the UNHCR had hoped for the in light of the economic and financial crisis.

Responding to questions concerning the situation of refugees remaining at the Serbian and Croatian border, Ms. Fleming said that their numbers remained fluid and that there had been a backlog, but the movement had restarted with the crossing into Austria of 4,300 persons yesterday, 19 October.

In response to the question on definition of “refugee”, Ms. Fleming stressed that UNHCR considered as refugees persons under international law who could not be returned to their country because of fear of death or persecution. UNHCR referred to all Syrians, Iraqis and Eritreans as refugees, also because those nationalities enjoyed over 90 per cent recognition rate as refugees while applying for asylum in European countries. About half of the Afghanis applying for asylum were recognized as refugees. The vast majority of those arriving from Turkey to Greece were refugees, more than 90 per cent.

Mr. Millman said that IOM viewed refugees as a subset of migrants, with asylum seekers being a subset of refugees. In America, “migrant” was more neutral term, better than “illegal alien”, whereas in Europe it had become a hostile term, as a shorthand for economic migrants.

Asked about her assessment of the role of the media, Ms. Fleming said that in general, the mainstream media coverage of the refugee crisis had been amazing. The only negative aspect was the blanket use of term “migrant” by some media outlets. The terms “migrant” and “refugee” should not be used interchangeably, she said.

Humanitarian convoys reach four besieged towns in Syria

Bettina Luescher, for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said that that on 18 October, WFP had joined the United Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent in a joint humanitarian aid convoy delivering urgently needed food rations to nearly 30,000 people trapped in four besieged towns in Syria. Ms. Luescher said that 19,500 persons in opposition-held areas in Zabadani and Madaya in Rural Damascus had received food, as well as 10,000 in Government-held villages of Fouah and Kafraya in Northern Idlib. This delivery was a part of a ceasefire plan negotiated by the United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura and others, which included cross-line and cross-border delivery of food and medical supplies to simultaneously support the communities in various part of the country. In addition to the delivery of humanitarian aid, the ceasefire agreement also provided for the evacuation of the critically injured, evacuation of civilians, safe passage of combatants, and exchange of prisoners.

A journalist asked whether the convoys had to cross areas controlled by the Islamic State and the al-Nousra Front, and Ms. Luescher explained that the convoy that went to Rural Damascus came from Damascus, while the other areas had been supplied from food stocks held in Southern Turkey.

WFP raises alarm about the food crisis in Mauritania

Ms. Luescher said that Mauritania was once again bearing the brunt of the recurring food crisis, chronic malnutrition and instability. WFP was very worried about the children: 14 per cent of those under the age of five were now severely malnourished, and in some areas of the country, 28 per cent were acutely malnourished – this was way above the emergency threshold. Nearly one million people - one in four - did not have enough food to eat. WFP needed $ 11 million in urgent funding to respond to the crisis, said Ms. Luescher.

Responding to questions on the origins of the recurring crisis, Ms. Luescher said that one of the big problems was the situation in the neighbouring Mali which spurred the people to flee. Ms. Luescher stressed the importance of school feeding programmes, which for some children provided the only meal they would eat. WFP was assisting Malian refugees since 2012, and Ms. Luescher warned about the worsening situation in northern Mali and the new waves of refugees arriving to Mauritania. WFP was planning to help some 540,000 people in the country, both the nationals and those who came from other countries, but was experiencing serious funding crisis.

In terms of consequences of the malnutrition, Ms. Luescher said that globally acute malnutrition was an indicator of a specially dire situation. It was particularly dangerous for small children, who could not develop properly if malnourished and who suffered life-long consequences. That was why it was important to not only provide school meals, but to support families with food rations, provide fortified nutritional supplements to children and to support pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.

23,400 food rations delivered to Donetsk, Ukraine

In Ukraine, WFP had delivered 23,400 food rations to non-Government controlled areas in Donetsk for the first time since the humanitarian aid had been suspended there in July 2015. The food had been delivered on 16 October and the parcels would be distributed to those most affected by the conflict, including internally displaced persons and those who had lost their jobs.

Asked about the reason for three months delay in the delivery of humanitarian aid, Ms. Luescher explained that the local authorities had stopped the humanitarian aid from coming in, and welcomed this important step in the right direction.