REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was attended by the spokespersons for the International Organization for Migration, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Intellectual Property Organization.

Human Rights Council update

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that on Friday, 29 September 2017, the Human Rights Council would consider some 20 draft texts still before it and would announce the appointment of a number of human rights experts before closing its thirty-sixth session.

Bangladesh

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that, on Thursday, 28 September 2017, the Secretary-General had briefed the Security Council on the situation in Myanmar. During the briefing, he had called on the Myanmar authorities to take three immediate steps: to end military operations; to allow unfettered access for humanitarian support; and to ensure the safe, voluntary, dignified and sustainable return of the refugees to their areas of origin. He had also reiterated the support of the United Nations to the process.

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that following the capsizing, on 28 September 2017, of a boat carrying Rohingyas fleeing from Myanmar into Bangladesh, 23 deaths and 17 survivors had been confirmed; some 40 people were still missing but presumed dead. Estimates had been updated following interviews with two survivors, who had stated that the headcount taken prior to the boat’s leaving had been of 80 people, including some 50 children, down from the 100 to 130 initially announced by IOM. The captain, a Bangladeshi, had repeatedly evaded sea patrols and checkpoints; people on board had gone without food for over 24 hours. The boat had finally capsized in the rough seas, though it had been easily within sight of land. The boat was a smuggling vessel but the price for those fleeing had apparently not been set in advance of the trip. Such incidents were to be deplored, as always. Mr. Millman added that according to the new estimates, some 518,000 people had fled Myanmar for Bangladesh since 25 August; there were 300,000 additional Rohingyas originally from Rakhine State living already in Bangladesh. During the following week, details would be provided on an upcoming pledging conference and on ongoing operations to alleviate the suffering of people living along the border.

Dr. Navaratnasamy Paranietharan, representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Bangladesh, speaking by phone from Bangladesh, said that WHO was concerned about the increasingly large population of refugees, most of whom were living in makeshift and spontaneous settlements. The refugees urgently needed access to basic health care. In addition to trying to meet those needs, WHO, as the head of the Health Sector of the Intersectoral Coordination Group, was working with partners to ensure access to safe drinking water, and improved sanitation and hygiene. It was furthermore seeking to prevent any potential outbreaks of diseases such as measles to avoid further suffering. Some 40 additional WHO staff had been deployed to Cox’s Bazar to help scale-up operations there.

One of the major challenges in trying to meet the refugees’ needs was the changing nature of the situation: there was no clear breakdown of the refugees in terms of age and gender and health status. Nevertheless, the 20 medical teams on the ground were working hard and the Ministry of Health of Bangladesh, with assistance from WHO and other partners, had provided additional staff to support response operations. Given the dire water sanitation and hygiene risks, an early warning and response system was being established to prepare for any potential outbreak. The terrain and weather were creating further obstacles to response operations, with heavy rains and the coming cyclone season, which would make water sanitation all the more difficult to ensure. The quality of the water had, thankfully, improved significantly; however, more work on was needed in terms of hygiene.

Through the ongoing vaccination campaign against rubella, measles and polio, some 111,000 children had been immunized against rubella and measles and 50,000 against polio; vitamin A supplements had also been administered. Another major health concern, however, was the risk of cholera. Considering the ongoing poor hygiene conditions, the Ministry of Health of Bangladesh, supported by WHO, had requested the International Coordinating Group for Vaccine Provision to provide 900,000 doses of oral cholera vaccine; that request had been approved and the vaccine doses were expected to arrive within two weeks, after which a formal campaign would begin. Preparations for the campaign were already under way.

WHO was providing basic health care and emergency services, but had also begun working to ensure the needs of individuals with diabetes and other such conditions. It was also distributing supplies to its health partners as part of its contingency plan in the field.

Andrej Mahecic, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that in a massive effort to cut the time Rohingya refugees spend in the open, UNHCR had, over the past week, started distributing plastic sheeting and essential relief items to refugees at the entry points to refugee settlements in Bangladesh.

The latest estimate of the number of Rohingya who had arrived in neighbouring Bangladesh since violence had erupted in Myanmar had crossed the half-million mark.

Teams of UNHCR partners were also scouting crossing points on the border with Myanmar to see where plastic sheets, pots and pans, jerry cans, plastic mats and solar lamps could be handed to refugees as soon as they entered Bangladesh. That would minimize the time that refugees – already traumatized by the events that had forced them to flee and by their harrowing journeys – would have to spend out in the open, and should cut down illness, malnutrition and decrease the threat of outbreak of contagious diseases.

Giving the newly arrived refugees the ability to construct their own shelter, begin cooking for themselves and taking care of their families was an important first step on the road to healing.

The 2,000-acre extension site on the outskirts of Kutupalong Camp in south-east Bangladesh was already becoming more organised, and was turning into a series of communities as UNHCR and its partners, supporting the Bangladesh Government, were able to deliver more emergency relief items.

To make it easier to bring aid into the Kutupalong extension site, the Bangladeshi Army had started constructing a road on 27 September. UNHCR was contributing USD 2 million of the total USD 4.2 million budget, supporting the Office of the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Coordinator of Bangladesh in building the road. UNHCR was also urgently shipping in 23 vehicles to assist in aid efforts, including 10 pick-up trucks that would be donated to the Government.

UNHCR nutrition experts estimated that almost one in five of the new arrivals were suffering from acute malnutrition. If nothing was done soon, they warned that the proportion could rise to one in four. That was due to more than mere lack of food.

UNHCR continued to witness a dire need for psychosocial support and counselling among refugees. Also vital was the food and supplemental feeding for breastfeeding mothers and their babies, many of them severely traumatized, sick and malnourished.

Meanwhile, as Bangladesh shouldered the full extent of the refugee crisis, UNHCR called on all countries in the region to show solidarity and do their part in keeping their borders open and protecting refugees who were fleeing discrimination, persecution and violence in Myanmar.

During the past week, UNHCR had issued an appeal for the period running from now until February 2018: the estimated additional requirements to meet the needs of the refugee population were USD 83.7 million.

Bettina Luescher, for the World Food Programme (WFP), said that nearly 460,000 people had been enrolled to receive 25kg of rice per family every two weeks for the next six months. Going forward, WFP would also distribute pulses and fortified vegetable oil to provide more variety. Nearly 60,000 women and children had received rations of special fortified food. As people continued crossing into Bangladesh, WFP and its partners were signing up new arrivals for distributions. WFP continued to work with Action against Hunger to provide hot meals, feeding over 50,000 people daily. The situation on the ground was very fluid. WFP Executive Director would travel to Bangladesh on 30 September 2017 in order to visit operations and meet local officials.

WFP would be scaling up its response to meet the needs of up to 700,000 new arrivals, plus 75,000 people who had arrived before August, 34,000 registered refugees and 200,000 people living in the host communities. A total of USD 72.7 million would be needed to fund a response that would address the needs of 1 million people for the following six months. WFP would need further access, too. Its aid activities in Rakhine State had been disrupted and there was still no humanitarian access in northern Rakhine. That said, WFP had resumed assistance to camps in central Rakhine State, where it hoped to reach 110,000 people.

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that according to the latest figures, there were more than 300,000 children living in camps and makeshift settlements in Bangladesh. UNICEF continued to scale up its operations there and now had ten times more staff in Cox’s Bazar than prior to 25 August 2017.
The Agency was worried about the risk of waterborne diseases and continued supporting the Government with the vaccination campaign being conducted with the support of WHO. UNICEF also had set up 42 child-friendly spaces, many of them months before the violence of 25 August, where children were provided with recreational activities, among other things. It was crucial to recognize the importance of education, even during emergencies. It gave children a sense of normalcy, allowed them to build a future and also afforded them some level of protection. UNICEF was planning to set up 1,300 new learning centres for Rohingya children who had fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh. It was currently running 182 learning centres in Rohingya camps and makeshift settlement in Cox’s Bazar and had enrolled 15,000 children. The learning centres provided early education to children aged 4 to 6 years old and non-formal basic education to children from 6 to 14 years of age.

A second consignment of goods sent by UNICEF had arrived in Cox’s Bazar on 27 September, bringing nutritional and other supplies. So far, 12 trucks had reach Cox’s Bazar from Dhaka. In additional to education, UNICEF had begun providing primary health care and routine vaccinations.

Responding to questions about the shipwreck that had occurred on 28 September 2017, Mr. Millman, for IOM, said that the captain was missing and presumed dead. The fact that the cost of the trip was to be negotiated upon arrival suggested that the captain had perhaps been new to smuggling and might have been a fisherman. The Bay of Bengal had been a notorious killing zone for many years, so the incident was far from being the first of its kind, although it was believed to be the first within the recent Rohingya refugee crisis. With regard to the survivors, some had been taken to the hospital, while others were staying with the locals in the village where they had been found; others had been released to family members. There was little information available on the conditions on the boat before it had capsized, except that there had been no food.

Mr. Mahecic, for UNHCR, added that people had been arriving in Bangladesh by boat since the beginning of the crisis. People were fleeing for their lives; the latest incident once again illustrated the risks they were willing to take and the possible consequences.

Responding to questions about the health situation of the displaced population in Bangladesh, Dr. Paranietharan, for WHO, said that the risk of a disease outbreak would remain until the response was truly scaled up and clean drinking water was accessible to all. Some improvement had already been seen in certain areas, such as water sanitation, and the disease burden was expected come down in the following three to four weeks. He clarified that the immunization campaign against measles, rubella and polio was ongoing and that WHO was currently discussing, with the Government of Bangladesh, the possibility of extending it further in order to vaccinate the children who continued to arrive from Myanmar. Because both Myanmar and Bangladesh were polio-free, polio was not as much of a concern as measles and rubella; nevertheless, given the dire conditions on the ground, it was best to take a precautionary approach. Details were still being worked out regarding the planned oral cholera vaccination campaign. Everyone over one year old would get one dose; a second dose was then likely to be administered within a couple of weeks to children under five years old, who were especially vulnerable. The situation would be re-assessed in the months following the campaign. For now, efforts were focused on improving the water sanitation and hygiene conditions and responding to the refugees’ emergency needs.

Responding to questions, Mr. Boulierac, for UNICEF, said that the 300,000 children who had arrived from Myanmar since 25 August 2017 had particularly acute needs. Although it was known that hundreds of thousands of Rohingya had arrived in Bangladesh prior to that date, there was no related disaggregated data available.

Asked about the recent cancellation of a planned visit to Myanmar by representatives of several United Nations agencies and others, Ms. Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that it was expected that the Myanmar authorities propose a new date for the visit.

Madagascar

Tarik Jasarevic, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that WHO was concerned about the situation in Madagascar. Plague was endemic in that country, which usually reported some 400 cases yearly. During the current epidemic season (September to April), however, the disease was affecting large urban areas and port cities, with already 104 cases reported since 23 August 2017 and 20 related deaths. Especially worrying was the large number of cases of pneumonic plague, which, unlike bubonic plague, was human-transmissible and lethal if not treated very quickly. The Ministry of Public Health, together with support from WHO, was conducting field investigations and contact tracing in affected areas, and actively searching for cases. Chemoprophylaxis had been provided to all contacts of confirmed and suspected cases and information on pneumonic plague has been distributed to health professionals to improve case management. WHO had released 250,000 from its contingency fund for emergencies to able to quickly scale-up its operations in Madagascar. It had also just issued a donor appeal for USD 1.5 million to further support the response plan.

Responding to questions, Mr. Jasarevic said that the high number of cases at the beginning of the epidemic season was indeed worrying, as was the fact that half the cases reported thus far had been of the pneumonic kind. The bacteria was usually found in small rodents and then transmitted to humans via flea bites, except when it became pneumonic and thus human-transmissible, in which case treatment had to be administered within a day to save a person’s life.

Mexico

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that seven million Mexican children were living in areas that required major financial investment in construction. UNICEF called for children to be at the heart of the reconstruction effort after the recent earthquake, as they had special needs, including hygiene, health, access to education and psychosocial support. If left unaddressed, the consequences for children and society as a whole could be severe. The country was therefore urged to give careful and systematic consideration to those needs.

Responding to questions, Mr. Boulierac, from UNICEF, said that some 10,000 schools had been damaged by the earthquake in eight Mexican States.

Caribbean – Impact of hurricanes on children

Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, more than 357,000 children needed urgent assistance in Cuba, the eastern Caribbean, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Approximately one third of children in Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos, Barbuda and Dominica had benefited from the UNICEF emergency response. Three flights had delivered water sanitation and hygiene, education and child protection supplies to Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands and Turks and Caicos, Dominica, Cuba and the Dominican Republic. An airlift of supplies for children had arrived in Turks and Caicos on 27 September and two UNICEF water tanks, along with other items, had been delivered to Dominica to support communities without access to water.

Burundi

Andrej Mahecic, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that UNHCR was calling for stronger international support for Burundian refugees and their host communities, as chronic underfunding severely hampered the humanitarian response in countries of asylum.

More than 420,000 Burundian refugees remained in dire need of humanitarian assistance and support in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, and the United Republic of Tanzania. As the number of Burundian refugees in host countries still remained high, it was vital that adequate resources were provided for ongoing life-saving humanitarian activities.

A revised humanitarian funding appeal of USD 429 million for Burundian refugees in neighbouring countries was only 19 per cent funded.

Underfunding had severely hampered reception capacities and strained asylum space, as well as the quality of protection rendered by host countries. Refugees continued to live in overcrowded and congested camps, facing insecurity, deterioration of emergency shelters, shortages of water and food, and oversubscribed health and education services. Provision of protection and assistance for Burundian refugees had not yet reached acceptable standards, despite efforts by the host Government, UNHCR and partners.

Many refugee hosting areas were at risk of communicable diseases like malaria and acute watery diarrhoea. There was an urgent need to expand the availability and quality of health services, including the creation of new structures, hiring of well-trained staff, and procurement of equipment and medical supplies.

While some returns of refugees were taking place, UNHCR was not promoting return to Burundi as conditions for large-scale organized repatriation were not yet in place. Burundian refugees were still in need of international protection and informal surveys indicate that the vast majority were not yet planning to return. However, UNHCR would continue to assist those refugees who had expressed a desire to voluntarily return home.

UNHCR also called upon all governments to continue to maintain open borders for asylum-seekers from Burundi and to ensure there was no forced return.

Responding to questions, Mr. Mahecic said that an appeal for funds had been made at the beginning of 2017 but had been revised to reflect the reality on the ground. Cuts would indeed have to be made if the necessary funding was not received; there simply was not enough aid to maintain all activities at the necessary standards. Teams in the field would continue to reprioritize to ensure that life-saving humanitarian activities remained intact. Shelter was now becoming dilapidated, presenting yet further challenges for humanitarians on the ground. He reiterated that UNHCR was not promoting return to Burundi as conditions for large-scale organized repatriation were not yet in place. No one should be forced to return. However, UNHCR would support those who had expressed a clear wish to do so.

Honduras

Andrej Mahecic, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that thousands of people displaced by gang violence in Honduras were being robbed of their lands and homes because of gaps in the existing property legislation, according to a new UNHCR report. The report also presented a set of concrete recommendations to ensure that those rights were better defended and protected.

Honduras had one of the highest murder rates in the world and those forced to flee the country told shocking stories of cruelty, sexual violence and brutality. Forced displacement in Honduras had been linked to the extreme violence of ruthless criminal gangs called “maras”, which often fought each other over territory and control of illegal activities.

According to official figures from 2015, at least 174,000 people had been displaced in Honduras between 2004 and 2014 in 20 urban municipalities in the country. Some 7,000 of them had said that dispossession and occupation of their land and property was the main reason for fleeing. Since the 2015 survey included only 20 urban municipalities, it was clear that the real number of those displaced by gang violence was likely much higher. In addition, many displaced people were reluctant to contact the authorities and simply went into hiding to escape further persecution by those groups.

The UNHCR land and housing report was based on interviews with displaced people, national and local authorities, experts and civil society. It noted that, in the absence of a proper land registry, displaced people often struggled to prove that they were the legitimate owners of their own houses or land.

The report made a number of recommendations to ensure that government policies took into account and protected the property rights of displaced people, especially in procedures to regularize title deeds. One of the main recommendations was the creation of a registration system for abandoned land and housing, to guarantee the legal protection of the rights of internally displaced persons and the establishment of restitution mechanisms linked to durable solutions.

Announcement of WHO press conferences

Tarik Jasarevic, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that at 2 p.m. on Friday, 29 September 2017, a press conference would be held by the World Health Organization to mark the United Nations International Day of Older Persons, celebrated annually on 1 October. An “older person” was anyone who was over the median of the life expectancy in their country.

At 1.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 3 October 2017, in press room III, WHO would host a press conference on the global road map to end cholera 2030, to be launched on 4 October 2017 by the Global Task Force on Cholera Control.

Geneva Events and Announcements

Edward Harris, for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), said that on Monday, 2 October 2017, WIPO would open its Fifty-Seventh Series of Meetings of the Assemblies of the Member States of WIPO; the first address would be given by the Director General of WIPO. A host of side events would also be held.

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that at 3.30 p.m. on 29 September, in Press Room I, the World Trade Organization would hold a press conference on the dispute settlement body.

At 11 a.m. on Wednesday, 4 October, in Press Room III, the International Trade Centre would hold a press conference on the launch of the 2017 SME Competitiveness Outlook.

At 1.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 4 October, in Press Room I, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child would hold a press conference, making public its concluding observations on the reports of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Denmark, Ecuador, the Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan, Cyprus, Guinea and Vanuatu.

In the morning of Tuesday, 3 October, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights would hold a public meeting with States parties.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog290917