REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was also attended by spokespersons and representatives of the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund, the International Organization for Migration, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the World Meteorological Organization and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Libya

Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme said WFP had airlifted six prefabricated warehouses, six mobile offices and other supplies from the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot in Brindisi, Italy, to Alexandria, Egypt. These had arrived on Monday 21 March and would be pre-positioned in Salloum, on the Libyan border with Egypt, as part of contingency planning for establishing logistics hubs inside Libya to support humanitarian assistance in that part of the country. WFP was concerned about access to food inside Libya as people arriving at the border had reported that food prices had increased sharply in recent weeks, with the price of flour more than doubling, rice prices increasing by 88 percent and that of vegetable oil by 58 percent. It had also been reported that 95 percent of shops in areas like Zawiya, Misrata and Sirte were closed. WFP was providing an average of 4,000 hot meals daily at the Djerba airport in Tunisia and had the capacity to provide up to 25,000 meals per day to people awaiting evacuation at the border. WFP and its partners were also planning to provide contingencies for up to 50,000 meals on the Libyan-Egyptian border, if required by the outflow. In addition, WFP had already sent 1,500 metric tons of food into eastern Libya and planned to move an additional 30 metric tons of food there in the next two days. An operational update was at the back of the room.

Adrian Edwards of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that UNHCR staff at Egypt’s border with Libya had been hearing from new arrivals that thousands of Libyans were displaced in the east of the country, taking refuge in homes, schools and university halls. People
who arrived over the weekend said there was displacement in Ajdabiya, Derna, and Tubruk. Providing humanitarian assistance under current circumstances had become very challenging. There were reported shortages of medical supplies and basic commodities in the eastern part of the country, with prices having increased dramatically. Libyans at the Egyptian border told UNHCR that they feared reprisal attacks by pro-government supporters in eastern parts of the country. They said people were afraid to go out after 4 pm. Some had seen their homes completely destroyed. One man returned to Ajdabiya over the weekend to find four rockets had flattened his home, forcing him to once again seek refuge in Egypt. Mobile phone networks had not been working since Thursday, fueling fears and generating greater uncertainty. Responding to reports of internal displacement, UNHCR would send truck loads of aid tomorrow on a WFP convoy to Benghazi. This would include 5,000 blankets and 5,000 sleeping mats for people camped out in schools, universities and with families.

Mr. Edwards said that as of yesterday, UNHCR staff were describing the border as being ‘relatively quiet’ with an estimated 400 cars arriving during the course of the day. Egyptian authorities had told UNHCR that approximately 3,000 persons crossed the border on Sunday, including 1,560 Libyans and 1,344 Egyptians. Significant progress had been made with repatriating third country nationals from the Egyptian border and by the end of yesterday only around 1700 remained there. Of this number, around 270 were refugees and
asylum-seekers. The Egyptian army had set up communal tents to house up to 600 Libyans who had arrived without proper documentation. UNHCR had offered to set up several portable warehouses in the border area to provide shelter for those waiting for onwards transport or other solutions.

Mr. Edwards said that on Monday afternoon, a UNHCR-chartered cargo plane had landed in Alexandria, Egypt, carrying six portable warehouses, one vehicle and relief items. Meanwhile on the Tunisian border UNHCR staff continued to report hearing distant gunfire inside Libya. Libyan pro-government supporters had yesterday staged a show of support at the border and UNHCR had noted an increased presence of Libyan military. A number of new arrivals said they had faced intimidation and harassment at border check points between Tripoli and the Ras Adjir

border crossing, with a group of Sudanese men telling UNHCR that yesterday they had all their money and possessions taken at a checkpoint. Others had told UNHCR that they had been able to leave Libya with little or no interference. The ongoing effort to repatriate people from the Shousha camp near the border continued, with the camp population now estimated at 4,700
people. Under an emergency evacuation programme, UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration had run more than 264 flights to repatriate some 58,200 people from Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria since the start of March.

Fadéla Chaib of the World Health Organization said WHO continued to work with its partners at the Egyptian border to prepare for the possible arrival of wounded people. With the help of the Egyptian Health Ministry, WHO had, for example, established two field military hospitals with a capacity of 250 beds each as well as two operation theaters. Thirty mobile clinics offering primary health care services had also been put in place by the Egyptian Ministry of Public Health and more than 36 ambulances to help those in need were on stand-by at the border crossing. In addition, WHO had positioned medical supplies in the region that could be dispatched to clinics and centers in need. While there was little information on the situation inside Libya, what was available suggested a lack of medicines, especially for chronic diseases and anesthesia. WHO was working on several fronts, the most important being to help both the Tunisian and Egyptian Health Ministries and identify the medicines and equipment needed by the health care facilities.

Responding to a question, Ms. Chaib added that while the situation at the borders seemed under control from a public health perspective, humanitarian partners still lacked access to most of Libya. Available information suggested that there was an acute shortage of many essential medicines, posing particular problems given the current high rate of patients admitted to hospitals with acute trauma injuries that required urgent surgical intervention. There were shortages of drugs to treat non-communicable diseases, including mental health disorders, and physicians and nursing staff in intensive care units, as many of these facilities had been staffed by expatriates who had left the country since the beginning of the conflict.

Marixie Mercado of the United Nations Children's Fund said that as of this morning there had been 86 children and 99 women on the Egyptian side, mostly from Sudan, Chad, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea, and as of 19 March there had been 308 families on the Tunisian side, including 114 children. UNICEF was working closely with IOM and UNHCR, as well as local authorities, to prioritize the repatriation of families, and simultaneously to set up child- and family-friendly spaces on both sides of the border. UNICEF was also leading on water, sanitation and hygiene responses and working with the Ministries of Health to vaccinate children and women, while gearing up to provide even more assistance within Libya once conditions permit. UNICEF's concern was the impact of violence in Ajdabiye, Misurata, and Benghazi, and other towns across Libya, and its inability to access civilian populations.

Jemini Pandy of the International Organization for Migration said that between last Thursday and Sunday nearly 5,000 Sub-Saharan Africans had arrived in Niger from Libya and another 20 trucks carrying Sub-Saharan African migrants were expected to arrive imminently, with an additional 50 trucks reportedly en route to Dirkou from Madama on the Niger-Libyan border. Migrants who had arrived in Niger had told IOM of many tens of thousands of other African migrants stranded in Sabha, unable to leave Libya because they did not have any means of getting transport to take them south. The numbers of Africans leaving Libya were of considerable concern, Ms. Pandya underscored.

Japan

Clare Nullis of the World Meteorological Organization said WMO continued to post links with the most relevant information from National Meteorological Offices on its website. There were rumours and unsubstantiated reports and diagrams circulating on the internet, but WMO urged people to refer only to authoritative sources of information on the weather.

Herbert Pümpel, Chief of WMO's Aeronautical Meteorological Division, said it was essential to understand the role of meteorology in the current crisis situation. WMO supported the relevant authorities with forecasts and analysis of the trajectories and spreading of gas, dust, particles and

liquids that were introduced into the atmosphere following accidents. The role of WMO was certainly not to issue warnings about levels of radioactivity, but, rather, to provide forecasts of dispersion and transport. Mr. Pümpel would not be part of playing down the risk for people in the vicinity of the accident, where the mixing was probably more important than long-range transport. Measurements of radioactivity in the vicinity – were typically the effect of mixing and the variable winds observed for the last few days there. It would be criminal to downplay the effects locally, but it would be equally criminal to create mass hysteria with scientific information that was intended for authorities so that they could try to calibrate their measurement network.

Gregory Härtl, reacting to reports and rumours about people self-medicating with Potassium Iodide, reiterated that Potassium Iodide should only be taken when recommended and as directed by local health authorities. If taken in the absence of a proximate exposure to radioactivity, Potassium Iodide could cause substantial health damage.

Côte d'Ivoire

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said that OCHA, amid the worsening situation in Côte d'Ivoire, appealed to donors to fund the USD 32 million appeal, which was currently only 21 per cent funded. Agencies urgently needed funding to assist a growing number of moving people, both in Abidjan and in the west of the country. OCHA was aware that donors were currently forced to respond to a number of crises simultaneously, but an urgent response to this appeal was essential as the crisis threatened the whole of West Africa. Given the increasing humanitarian needs, the appeal would be revised upwards and the work of the agencies would be hampered if funding was not received, Ms. Byrs underscored. She added that the Central Emergency Response Fund was about to allocate USD 10 million for the crisis in Côte d'Ivoire. More information was available from the note at the back of the room.

Ms. Pandya said that IOM staff in Abidjan indicated that people were leaving on public buses, cars and taxis to reach home villages as fighting spread across the city. Among those leaving were growing numbers of migrants. An IOM convoy which had evacuated 453 Mauritanian migrants by bus last week reached the Malian capital, Bamako, at the weekend despite many roadblocks and insecurity along the route. A second convoy of seven buses carrying nearly 470 Mauritanians, which had been due to depart on 20 March, would either leave today or tomorrow. IOM had registered another 402 Mauritanians camped out in the grounds or in the vicinity of the Mauritanian Embassy in Abidjan who wished to return home. IOM had also been made aware by the Malian ambassador to Abidjan of about 20,000 of his nationals requiring evacuation assistance. Among them was a group of 100 women and children who had arrived at the embassy over the weekend urgently asking to be helped to return home. In addition, 800 Burkinabés had been referred to IOM by the Burkinabé Council for Peace in Cote d'Ivoire also for help to return home to Burkina Faso. The group was currently staying among host families in a village an hour from Abidjan after their homes and village had been looted. In January, IOM had been formally requested by Burkina Faso, Mali and Liberia to assist their nationals to return to their respective home countries if the situation escalated. IOM was also working with national disaster agencies in all five surrounding countries, including Guinea and Ghana, to assist in the reception and reintegration of returning nationals from Cote d'Ivoire. IOM estimated that at least 100,000 stranded migrants would need to be assisted home to neighbouring countries. In January, IOM had appealed for an initial USD 3.5 million but to date it had only received USD 1.06 million. With the situation worsening in the country and requests for evacuations of migrants increasing, funds were desperately needed to help those fleeing violence.

Ms. Casella said WFP had launched a revised USD 16 million appeal for Côte d’Ivoire, but even before that its Côte d’Ivoire operation had received zero funds, while the Liberia operation was 50 per cent funded. The WFP country director had underlined that this crisis was not getting the attention it deserved. He had noted that WFP could not do its work because parts of Abidjan and other areas of the country were literally a war zone, and yet they had to be ready to jump into action the moment things improved. WFP could not wait until the global attention shifted to Côte d’Ivoire. Lack of access must not be a reason for donors to focus their attention elsewhere. Three to four months were needed after donations were made for food to arrive in the country, and WFP therefore appealed to donors not to forget the people in Côte d’Ivoire and Liberia. If help did not come now, the impact would be felt for many months afterwards. Despite the insecurity in Côte d’Ivoire -- which had caused unimaginable hardship for hundreds of thousands of people and had made working there extremely dangerous for all humanitarian staff -- WFP was still arranging food distributions and transporting non-food items for the humanitarian community. It had started distributing food to displaced people in Abidjan and hoped to reach about 6,000 people this week.

Bahrain

Rupert Colville of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said that the situation in Bahrain remained very worrying with between 50 and 100 reported missing over the past week. Two of those who had earlier been missing had now reportedly been found dead. There were also disturbing reports that people who had spoken on the record to media had been detained and threatened, and some may be fearing reprisals. Those arrested were reported to include political activists, human rights defenders and doctors and nurses from the Salmaniya hospital. Some, including female nurses, had been released quite quickly, others have not. Many of those who had been reporting on the situation to the outside world had had their communications cut, and in some case the mobile phones of their close relatives had also been cut off. This made it quite hard to sort out what precisely was going on, especially in the villages outside the capital Manama, mostly inhabited by Shia.

Since OHCHR had issued its press release last Thursday, it had been inundated with emails, telling it that it had got it all back to front, and the protestors were the ones who were completely at fault. Many of these emails were very similar in content, suggesting an orchestrated campaign. That said, some or even many of the emails may well be genuine. It was clear that everyone in Bahrain was to a greater or lesser degree concerned about by what had been going on. However, the most traumatized people were those whose colleagues, friends and relatives had been killed, injured, harassed, intimidated, beaten, or had been arrested or gone missing, said Mr. Colville.

It was vital that the authorities scrupulously abided by international standards. People should not be arbitrarily arrested and should not be detained without clear evidence that they had committed a recognized crime. OHCHR stressed again that demonstrating peacefully was not a crime. Giving an interview to a journalist was not by any stretch of the imagination a crime, nor is reporting human rights abuses. People should not be beaten or otherwise physically abused by security forces.

Injured people should not be prevented from receiving medical care. Security forces should only use live fire in very circumscribed circumstances laid down in the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials and the United Nations Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials

Yemen

Mr. Colville said that OHCHR was alarmed about the situation in Yemen, where there was now a state of emergency and armed clashes. OHCHR reminded the Government that fundamental rights, such as the right to life, and freedom from torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, could not be derogated from under any circumstances, even in a public emergency.

OHCHR deplored the reported killing of dozens of peaceful protestors last week, including reportedly by snipers shooting from rooftops. It noted that the killings had been condemned by some members of the government and some parts of the army in Yemen. OHCHR also noted the call for an independent investigation into the killings, particularly during the protests at University of Sana’a on Friday. All such violations of human rights must indeed be investigated by independent and impartial mechanisms, said Mr. Colville.

The government’s decision to deport two Al Jazeera correspondents on Saturday 19 March was also a matter of concern. OHCHR saw a lot of suppression of the right to freedom of expression in the region and reminded governments of the need to protect all fundamental rights, even in unstable times. It was also concerned about another Al Jazeera crew which was allegedly being held by government forces in Libya, and urge their immediate release.


Syria

Mr. Colville said that a total of six people were reported to have been killed by security forces in the southern city of Daraa since Friday, when thousands had taken to the streets following Friday prayers, calling for greater political freedom and an end to corruption. The government had responded forcefully and it had been reported that security forces first used teargas and water canon and later live ammunition against the protesters, killing at least four people and wounding others. On Saturday 19 March, security forces used teargas to disperse mourners who had gathered for the funeral of two of the men killed the previous day.

On Sunday 20 March, thousands of protesters had again taken to the streets in Daraa. Security forces had again responded by using teargas and live ammunition against the protesters, killing at least one person. In addition, a boy injured in one of the incidents over the weekend had reportedly died of his wounds yesterday, said Mr. Colville.

OHCHR was greatly concerned by the recent killings of protesters in Syria and reiterated the need to put an immediate halt to the excessive use of force against peaceful protesters, especially the use of live ammunition. The use of excessive force constituted a clear violation of international law, which provided for individual criminal responsibility for violations committed.

People had the legitimate right to express their grievances and demands to their Government, and OHCHR urged the Syrian Government to enter into a broad, meaningful dialogue with the protesters in an attempt to address those grievances, said Mr. Colville.

The government should carry out an independent, transparent and effective investigation into the killings of the six protesters during the events of 18 and 20 March.

Agenda

Corinne Momal-Vanian said that the Conference on Disarmament was holding a public session this morning during which the Chinese Ambassador, Mr. Wang Qun, would deliver an address, as he took over the Conference presidency this week for the next four weeks.

Ms. Momal-Vanian also announced the Library Talk “No Women – No peace”, to be held on Wednesday, 23 March, from 1 p.m. to 2.30 p.m. The talk was organized by the Library, together with the United Nations Population Fund and other organizations, and moderated by Elisabeth Decrey Warner, the President and Co-founder of Geneva Call. The discussion would address the link between Security Council Resolution 1325 and human rights.

Also tomorrow, WHO would give a press conference at 11 a.m. in Room III to update journalists on the status of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis and new initiatives to reach people with tuberculosis through community outreach. Tomorrow noon, Rashid Khalikov, the United Nations Coordinator for Libya, would address the press upon his return from the Egyptian-Libyan border.

Ms. Casella said the WFP Country Director for Pakistan was available to update journalists on what had been going on in Pakistan. After a peak distribution to about 7 million people in October, WFP expected to be distributing food to about 1.8 million flood-affected people and an additional 1.3 million to conflict-affected persons over the coming months.

Ms. Casella said that the WFP Country Director for Chad would also be available to brief journalists on Chad. As well as updating journalists on the Sahel crisis last year, the Country Director could speak about challenges related to the closing of the Libya corridor, which supplied 40 per cent of the food WFP distributed in Chad.

Other

Ms. Momal-Vanian said the Secretary-General’s message about today’s World Water Day was available at the back of the room.

Ms. Pandya introduced her new colleague, Jumbe Omari Jumbe (jjumbe@iom.int, 079/812 77 34).