REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was attended by spokespersons for the United Nations Refugee Agency, the International Organization for Migration and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Syria

Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, on behalf of the Office of the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for Syria, said that Special Envoy de Mistura continued his consultations on the establishment of a Syrian-led, Syrian-owned and UN-facilitated constitutional committee, within the framework of the Geneva process and in accordance with Security Council resolution 2254 (2015). In that context, Special Envoy de Mistura had invited Iran, the Russian Federation and Turkey for formal consultations at the United Nations Office at Geneva on 11 and 12 September 2018 to work on the constitutional committee.

In response to a query, Ms. Vellucci said that she had no information as to whether or not the Special Envoy planned to later invite countries such as the United States of America and Saudi Arabia to similar consultations.

In response to a query, Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that he did not have an update on the specific situation in Idlib. OCHA was concerned about the situation, especially in the light of the fact that the city’s population had roughly doubled with the influx of internally displaced persons.

Yemen

Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that journalists accredited with UN Geneva would not require a special badge for the Consultations on Yemen even if events would take place at the Palais des Nations on days when it was officially closed. However, they would need a special badge for any media events held in hotels. Journalists would be kept informed of the accreditation procedure. Beyond the curtain-raiser by the Special Envoy to be held on the afternoon of 5 September, she could not confirm the programme or duration of the consultations but would keep journalists informed in due course. She would look into the possibility of creating a Whatsapp group as suggested by correspondents .

Venezuelan migrants

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), drew attention to a press release issued on 23 August, which called for more support as the outflow of Venezuelans rose across the region, and to an IOM document describing trends in migration from Venezuela.

Replying to questions from journalists, Mr. Millman said that the start of the crisis was not firmly set, though 2015 was when a long-standing turbulent situation that predated the Bolivarian Revolution had taken a marked turn for the worse. The figure of 2.3 million included Venezuelans who had left the country prior to 2015. Unlike for the situation in the Mediterranean, he did not have monthly figures and, given that the data came from multiple countries, it was difficult to provide reliable comparisons. The concept of internally displaced persons tended to be applied to natural disasters and widespread internal conflict, so he did not believe the current situation was being framed in those terms, though it would be quite interesting to have figures on internal displacement. He was not in a position to comment on the situation on any specific border and, while the violence that had recently occurred in Brazil was upsetting, it concerned a small number of people. IOM understood the strain that the influx of Venezuelan migrants placed on countries in the region. Furthermore, it wished to support States in order to avoid the adoption of drastic measures, such as the imposition of the requirement to hold a passport in order to obtain admission, which could adversely affect vulnerable migrants. Lastly, IOM wished to alert the international community of the pending crisis and of the need to mobilize funding as a matter of urgency with a view to appropriately managing the situation.

Also replying to journalists, Andrej Mahecic, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that it was worth recalling the long tradition of solidarity and responsibility-sharing in Latin America in response to forced displacement. Notwithstanding the deplorable images coming out of the region the previous week, governments were making commendable efforts to provide for the displaced. Naturally, UNHCR was concerned about recent events and called for respect for refugees and other migrants and for an end to stigmatization, which undermined integration efforts. Solidarity was key and, given the obvious strains on host communities, the international community should lend its support to the region. The figures, which did not take into account irregular migration, fluctuated as the various governments released their data and were likely to increase. However, the UNHCR website did have a data platform where the number of asylum seekers could be tracked. The number of asylum applications filed by Venezuelans had risen sharply from a few thousand in 2014 to over 130,000 thus far in 2018.

Rohingya emergency one year on

Andrej Mahecic, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), gave the following statement:

“UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, is calling today on the international community to step up its support for some 900,000 stateless Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and show solidarity with their generous hosts. The collective international responsibility for protecting and finding solutions for these refugees must remain a priority for all countries in the region and beyond.

Since August last year, more than 720,000 stateless Rohingya refugees, fleeing violence and systemic discrimination in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, have found shelter and safety in Cox’s Bazar district of Bangladesh. There they joined an estimated 200,000 Rohingya refugees from previous waves of displacement.

At the onset of the emergency, UNHCR immediately deployed additional staff to Bangladesh and airlifted more than 1,500 metric tonnes of aid and relief items. More aid was and continues to be shipped and moved by land. Over the past year our teams have been working around the clock in support of Bangladeshi authorities to ensure that the refugees are protected. Our work includes psycho-social counselling, prevention of sexual and gender based violence, family counting, identification of and assistance to separated and unaccompanied children and other vulnerable refugees.

Kutupalong settlement in Cox’s Bazar shelters today more than 600,000 refugees, making it the largest and most densely populated refugee settlement in the world. This brings daily challenges of delivering shelter, water and sanitation and access to basic services, as well as protection considerations such as the safety of women and girls.

In a dramatic race against time, intense preparations have been undertaken over the last few months to ready the refugee settlements to face the heavy monsoon rains. Massive engineering works have been implemented to help reduce the risk of landslides and flooding. Hundreds of refugee volunteers have been mobilized and trained to serve as first responders in the event of a natural disaster. These efforts have proved invaluable during the unprecedented rains in June and July, as the refugee settlements largely withstood the adverse weather.

As we take stock of what has been achieved so far, UNHCR urges renewed international engagement and support for refugees and host communities in Bangladesh, in order to expand the response from day-to-day lifesaving operations to also address challenges such as education and self-reliance for the Rohingya refugees. Repairing the environmental impact of hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees in the Cox’s Bazar area also requires urgent action, including through reforestation and use of alternative fuels for cooking and heating. This week we began distribution of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) to the first 7,000 refugee households. UNHCR plans to deliver this new fuel to 100,000 households (approximately 500,000 refugees) by the end of the year.

The Joint Response Plan (JRP) launched in March 2018 appealed for US$ 950.8 m for the period from March to December 2018. As of mid-August the JRP is just over 33 per cent funded. This is deeply worrying given that we are nearing the last four months of 2018. It is vital that humanitarian agencies receive early and flexible funding in order to continue delivering lifesaving assistance and to improve the living conditions for refugees and host communities in Bangladesh.

Against this backdrop, it is vital not to lose sight of the fact that the solutions to this crisis lie in Myanmar. International support is needed to assist the Government of Myanmar to address the root causes of the crisis, in line with the recommendations of the Advisory Commission on Rakhine State led by late Kofi Annan. This should include ensuring freedom of movement for all people in Rakhine State, irrespective of ethnicity, religion or citizenship status, and a clear and voluntary pathway to citizenship. The willingness of the Myanmar authorities to take the lead in this process is critical.”

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), gave the following statement:

“The immense efforts of the UN Migration Agency (I0M) and its partners to support the Government of Bangladesh in the humanitarian response since the influx began a year ago are evident across what has become the largest refugee settlement in the world.

Almost a million Rohingya now live in Cox's Bazar. From the early days of the crisis when thousands were crossing the border daily, sleeping under open skies, many injured and on the brink of starvation, conditions on the ground have improved immeasurably. All the refugees now have access to basic shelter, food and healthcare.

Intensive cooperative efforts to avert landslides – including work to prevent soil erosion, preparing ground to make it flatter and safer, emergency response planning, awareness raising and the relocation of more than 24,000 people most at risk – mean major tragedies have so far been avoided in the camps, despite the dangerous topography and extreme weather conditions.

But that does not mean danger has passed. Another cyclone season looms at the end of September and severe ' funding shortages threaten the delivery of vital services.

‘The achievements of the past year have been remarkable,’ said Giorgi Gigauri, IOM's Chief of Mission in Bangladesh. ‘This was the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world and the challenges have been immense. Countless lives have been saved thanks to the generosity of the Government of Bangladesh, the local community and donors, and the hard work of all those involved in the humanitarian response. But we now face the very real threat that if more funding is not urgently secured, lives will once again be at risk.’"

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that humanitarian access to Rakhine State remained severely limited, thereby denying life-saving support for those in desperate need. Nevertheless, OCHA stood ready to intervene as soon as access was granted. There were approximately 660,000 people in need across Rakhine State, including 176,000 in the northern area, in which even the organizations that had been working there for years had yet to be able to resume programmes and services for some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

In response to a question from a journalist, Mr. Mahecic said that the memorandum of understanding recently signed with the Myanmar authorities centred around three keys areas, namely humanitarian access, freedom of movement in Rakhine State and the need to address the root causes of the crisis. Talks were ongoing with Myanmar regarding the implementation of the memorandum, in particular the modalities of access. While UNHCR remained committed to the process, the engagement of the Myanmar authorities was critical to the creation of conditions conducive to the voluntary, safe, dignified and sustainable return of refugees.

Violence in the Ebola-hit region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Andrej Mahecic, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), gave the following statement:

“UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is alarmed by the latest escalation of violence in already volatile and Ebola-hit North Kivu province in east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The cumulative effect of conflict and the outbreak of the deadly disease is threatening millions of Congolese.

The fighting involving a number of armed groups operating in the area has intensified in all six territories in North Kivu, a province bordering Rwanda and Uganda. Thousands of civilians have fled their burned out villages, bringing reports of brutal attacks. The already dire humanitarian situation has been further aggravated by an outbreak of Ebola virus in parts of the province. The disease has killed more than 60 people and infected dozens more in recent weeks.

Forced displacement in this part of the country remains massive. It is estimated that more than a million people are displaced in North Kivu. This is the highest concentration of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the DRC. An estimated half a million people have been forced from their homes this year alone.

UNHCR is particularly worried about the deteriorating situation in the Ebola-hit northern territory of Beni. The area is home to some 1.3 million people. Spiralling conflict has left the population living there virtually in a state of siege since October 2017. Reports of increased human rights violations and restrictions of humanitarian access are frequent. Estimates are that more than 100 armed groups are active in the province, continually terrorizing the population. Despite a large-scale military offensive of the Congolese Army against one of the main rebel groups, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) since January, there has been no let-up in the violence.

Despite security challenges, a UNHCR team accessed the area north of Beni earlier this month and conducted humanitarian assessments in Oicha and Eringeti districts. Residents told our staff about brutal attacks against the civilians carried out with machetes. Stories of massacres, extortion, forced displacement and other human rights violations are frequent.

Sexual and gender-based violence is rampant across the Beni territory. Many children are being recruited as child soldiers. The violence is particularly rampant in the so-called ‘triangle of death,’ between the towns of Eringeti, Mbau and Kamango, on the Uganda-DRC border, as well as in the towns of Beni, Oicha and Mavivi.

UNHCR teams witnessed empty villages, countless torched and abandoned houses, as well as burnt cars. Those who fled found shelter mostly in Beni and Oicha, where both host and displaced communities fall prey to brutal and unpredictable attacks. Beni town hosts more than 32,000 displaced people, with the majority forced to live with host families or in schools or churches. More than two thirds have been forced to flee in the last three months.

UNHCR teams found the vulnerable displaced indigenous communities to be in some of the most critical situations. Forced out of their areas of origin in the forests, their living conditions in makeshift sites are abysmal. Families are sleeping on the bare ground, barely protected from the elements by their flimsy shelters. They have few or no means of survival as they can no longer hunt in the forests, now under the control of armed groups. There’s a genuine risk of these people losing their culture and way of life.

UNHCR is scaling up its capacity in North Kivu to respond to the growing humanitarian needs. We are arranging additional emergency shelters and other humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of the displaced in Beni. While UNHCR’s humanitarian response is continuing despite the outbreak of Ebola, the prevailing security situation and drastic funding shortfall severely hamper our efforts. UNHCR’s DRC 2018 appeal totalling US$ 201 million is only 17 per cent funded.”

Replying to a journalist, Mr. Mahecic said that a list of donor countries would be made available.

Emerging funding shortfall to assist gold miners displaced in border region with Libya

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that an attack on 11 August against a border post near one of the largest gold mining areas in the Tibesti region of Chad had prompted the Government to halt all gold mining activities in Miski and Kouri Bougri. Both towns were near the border with Libya and had been attracting migrant workers from West and Central Africa, as well as Chadians, since 2013. There were reports that some migrants were in the area to earn money to cover the cost of irregular migration to Europe via Libya and that some of them were victims of exploitation, trafficking and forced labour. Nearly 4,000 people had become displaced as a result of the mining shut-down and placed a considerable burden on local communities. According to Anne Kathrin Schaefer, IOM Chief of Mission in Chad, the situation was dire and neither IOM nor the local authorities were in a position to assist the displaced – who had no access to food, water or shelter – owing to a lack of funding. At least US$ 500,000 were urgently needed to provide immediate assistance as well as voluntary return assistance to the thousands of stranded migrants in Chad. That amounted to only US$ 120 per person, which was well under what evacuations cost in other parts of the world. Thus, a small funding shortfall now could build into a much larger emergency relatively soon, which was why, in conjunction with the high-level conference on the Lake Chad Region to begin in Berlin next month, IOM wished to raise the issue.

High-Level Conference on the Lake Chad Region

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said that a high-level conference on the Lake Chad Region would be held in Berlin on 3 and 4 September 2018. It would follow up on the 2017 conference in Oslo and look at the situation in the countries affected by the Boko Haram crisis. International donors, government representatives, civil society and journalists from the region had been invited. In addition to being a pledging conference, the event would also address three themes, namely the humanitarian situation and response, longer-term development and resilience-building efforts, and stabilization. The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator and the UNDP Administrator would co-host the conference and would hopefully hold a media event on 3 September.

Announcements

Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that the Secretary-General would be travelling to China from 1 to 4 September, where he would be speaking at a summit on China-Africa cooperation. On the margins of the summit, he would be meeting with President Xi Jinping, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other senior Chinese officials, as well as the Chair of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, and other African leaders.

Ms. Vellucci also said that the Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) would meet on Monday 27 August in Room XVIII, and from Tuesday, 28 August to Friday 31, August 2018 in Room XX of the Palais des Nations, United Nations Office in Geneva. The provisional agenda was available on the website. The media were authorized to attend, but there would be restrictions on video recording. A note to correspondents on this would soon be circulated.

Furthermore, the next public plenary meeting of the Conference on Disarmament would take place on Tuesday, 28 August, at 10 a.m., still under the chairmanship of Turkey.

Ms. Vellucci added that the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination would be meeting in private until the end of its ninety-sixth session, next Thursday, 30 August, when it would issue its concluding observations on the seven countries reviewed, namely Montenegro, Latvia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, China, Mauritius, Cuba and Japan. An end-of-session press conference had yet to be announced.

Lastly, Ms. Vellucci said that the twentieth session of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) would open on Monday, 27 August, in Room XVII of the Palais des Nations. During the session, to last until 21 September, the Committee would review the reports of South Africa, Algeria, Bulgaria, Poland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malta and the Philippines.

Press Conferences

Monday, 27 August at 10:00 a.m. in Room III
Human Rights Council/ Independent International Fact-finding Mission on Myanmar
Press conference by the Independent International Fact-finding Mission on Myanmar on the publication of its final written report on alleged human rights violations committed in Myanmar.
(NB: the report will be shared beforehand under strict embargo. It will be presented to the Human Rights Council on 18 September and will be supplemented by an annex to be published closer to the presentation to the Council)
Speakers:
• Mr. Marzuki Darusman, Chairperson, Independent International Fact-finding Mission on Myanmar
• Ms. Radhika Coomaraswamy, Member of the Independent International Fact-finding Mission on Myanmar
• Mr. Christopher Sidoti, Member of the Independent International Fact-finding Mission on Myanmar

Monday, 27 August at 11:00 a.m. in Press Room 1
UNHCR
UNHCR 2018 refugee education report - EMBARGOED PRESS CONFERENCE UNTIL 29 AUGUST 0700 GMT
Speaker:
• Ita Sheehy, Senior Education Advisor, Division of Resilience and Solutions, UNHCR

Monday, 27 August at approximately 1.15 p.m. in Press Room 1
Second 2018 meeting of the Group of Governmental Experts on Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems
Briefing on the second 2018 meeting of the Group of Governmental Experts on Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems
Speaker:
• Ambassador Amandeep Singh Gill, Chair of the Group of Governmental Experts on Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems

Tuesday, 28 August at 9:00 a.m. in Room III
Human Rights Council/ Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen
Press conference by the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen, appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, on the publication of its report on the establishment of facts and circumstances surrounding alleged violations and abuses committed by all parties to the conflict in Yemen since September 2014.
The report will be shared with the UN Geneva press corps prior to its release and will remain under strict embargo until 9:00 a.m. on 28 August.
• Kamel Jendoubi, Chairperson of the Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen
• Charles Garraway, Group of Eminent Experts on Yemen

Thursday, 30 August at 10:00 a.m. in Room III
International Campaign to Ban Landmines, UNIDIR
Cluster Munition Monitor 2018 Report Launch
Speakers:
Welcome and introduction
• Dr. Renata Dwan, Director, UNIDIR
Overview of report findings
• Ms. Mary Wareham, Advocacy Director, Arms Division, Human Rights Watch and ban policy editor for Cluster Munition Monitor 2018
• Ms. Amelie Chayer, ICBL-CMC, government liaison and policy manager
• Mr. Loren Persi, ICBL-CMC, casualties and victim assistance editor for Cluster Munition Monitor 2018
• Mr. Jeff Abramson, Final Editor and Program Manager, Landmine and Cluster Munition Monitor