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 of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the World Trade Organization, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the World Health Organization and the World Meteorological Organization.

Libya

Melissa Fleming of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that UNHCR was hearing consistent reports from new arrivals and a number of partners in eastern Libya of increased internal displacement. International Medical Corps estimated that up to 20,000 people had been taking refuge in the small town of Al Butwen, east of Ajdabiyya for over two weeks, while the Libyan Red Crescent had told UNHCR that some 5,000 people had been displaced in the coastal town of Derna. To date, UNHCR had sent two convoys with medical supplies to Benghazi through the Egyptian Red Crescent and the Libyan Red Crescent. It had also sent thousands of blankets, sleeping mats and other relief items. Further stores in Egypt with relief items for 40,000-50,000 people were ready to be dispatched if necessary. At this time, however, UNHCR did not have access to deliver humanitarian aid into other parts of Libya.

Ms. Fleming said that meanwhile the Egyptian city of Marsa Matrouh, some 220 kilometres east of the Libyan border, was hosting hundreds if not thousands of Libyans. Of those interviewed by UNHCR, many were families who said that they hoped to return to Libya soon. Banners were hanging in the streets with messages of welcome to Libyans. The numbers of people fleeing Libya had remained steady over the past few days. Tunisia was seeing around 2,000 arrivals daily, most from Sudan and Bangladesh. At the Egyptian border, around 1,500-2,000 individuals, mostly Libyans and Egyptians, were crossing each day, with a growing number of third country nationals from Chad also being noted. The number of people awaiting evacuation or alternative solutions from transit camps at the Tunisia border with Libya had increased to 8,500.

Jemini Pandya said that IOM had resumed the evacuation of stranded migrants from the port of Benghazi to the border crossing at Salum, in Egypt, after a brief suspension caused by the deteriorating security conditions. Yesterday, 24 March, IOM had evacuated 146 Chadian and 4 Bangladeshis in a convoy of buses which had reached Salum in the evening. Another 646 Chadians were expected to be taken to the Egyptian border in the next two days with other nationalities to be assisted next week. The resumption of the evacuations from Benghazi would be a big relief to the many migrants stranded in the port area where they were sheltering at the transit facility operated by the Libyan Red Crescent. Before the suspension of evacuations on 16 March, IOM had evacuated 2,159 migrants from the port area to Salum by road or by sea to the Egyptian port of Alexandria.

Ms. Pandya said that meanwhile the situation at the northern Niger town of Dirkou, close to the Libyan border, remained difficult. At least 12,000 people had arrived in Niger since the crisis began, more than half of them in the past week. IOM and the local police were jointly monitoring arrivals and confirmed that migrants were now crossing from Libya on a daily basis in their hundreds if not thousands. With such large numbers of arrivals potentially creating tension in Dirkou, which itself only had a population of 4,000, the government was ensuring that frequent military escorts were organized to escort IOM convoys carrying migrants from Dirkou to Agadez, further south. From there, IOM provided assistance to both Nigerien and other Sub-Saharan migrants to get to Niamey and final destinations in other countries where applicable. As more and more migrants crossed into Niger, Chad also saw the first group of migrants crossing its border with Libya this week when 2,200 Chadian and other Sub-Saharan nationals had arrived on trucks at Faya Largeau and Oum Chalouba Kalait in the north of the country. Others were expected to arrive from Koufra in Libya.

Ms. Pandya said that an inter-agency assessment including IOM would take place at the Chadian border in the next few days to gauge needs and find out which were the main entry points in the country for migrants from Libya. An increasing number of Chadians had also managed to flee into Egypt and Tunisia in the past few weeks. Nearly 1,700 of them had been evacuated home by IOM, UNHCR and the Chadian government so far, with the Chadian government organizing additional flights to evacuate its nationals. With a large number of Chadians estimated to be still living and working in Libya, it was likely that more and more of them would need assistance to return home in the days and weeks to come. By the end of this weekend, 70,000 migrants would have been evacuated from Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Niger and Malta by IOM with support from UNHCR and several governments. Nearly 367,000 people had now crossed into Libya's neighbouring countries since the crisis began.

Japan

Corinne Momal-Vanian said the Secretary-General would this afternoon (in the morning in New York) hold a video conference on the nuclear accident at the Fukushima power plant with the heads of concerned agencies.

Gregory Härtl of the World Health Organization said there had been and would be announcements by various organizations and entities that they had detected radiation outside of Japan, as far away as Europe and elsewhere. It should be noted, however, that the radiation detected at this moment did not represent any public health danger.

Clare Nullis of the World Meteorological Organization said WMO was constantly posting information from National Meteorological Offices on its website and continued to refer people to the Japanese Meteorological Administration. The IAEA, in collaboration with WMO, WHO and other United Nations organizations, would issue a press release on air transport later today.

Côte d'Ivoire

Rupert Colville of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said that since Thursday last week, at least 52 more people had been killed in Côte d’Ivoire, including 5 children and 7 women. OHCHR estimated that the death toll since mid-December had now reached at least 462. Its office in Côte d’Ivoire had also received allegations – as yet unconfirmed – that an additional 200 nationals of ECOWAS member states (including people from Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Guinea and Togo) had been killed in the Guiglo area in the western part of the country. The OHCHR office was investigating these specific allegations. However, there were clear indications that West African nationals – principally those from Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali and Nigeria – had continued to be subjected to targeted attacks.

Mr. Colville said that in general the OHCHR was extremely concerned about the worsening situation, particularly given the continuing incitement by the outgoing president Laurent Gbagbo and the leader of the Young Patriots, Blé Goude, who had called on the youth in the country to join the army and “liberate the country” from their opponents. At least 5,000 young people had this week queued up to enlist in the army. This was a worrying development with potentially severe implications for the already deteriorating human rights situation in the country. Human rights officers in Côte d’Ivoire had also interviewed a number of victims who had been abducted, robbed and had their homes raided by armed men believed to be elements of the Republican Guard and the Young Patriots. Politically-motivated human rights violations and abuses continued, with residences of pro-Gbagbo individuals also raided, ransacked and burnt down, reportedly by RHDP youth and the Forces Nouvelles armed group which supported President Ouattara.

Mr. Colville said that the OHCHR office reported that armed groups on both sides had been implementing a new modus operandi in their attacks against civilians: typically this involved armed men in civilian cars indiscriminately firing or launch grenades at civilians, so far principally in the Boribana, Abobo, Attécoubé, Williamsville and Yopougon neighborhoods of Abidjan. Giving an example of this sort of attack, Mr. Colville mentioned Akekoi. A village predominantly inhabited by the Attié ethnic group, who were perceived to be pro-Gbagbo, was raided by armed men aboard a white 4x4 vehicle this week, leading to one civilian death. OHCHR had also documented continuing attacks by the FDS on Adjamé, Williamsville, Port Bouet II and Attécoubé neighbourhoods in Abidjan, which appeared to be aimed at arresting Ouattara supporters. Those carrying out these attacks encircled the area, conducted raids, and usually killed a number of people and destroy property.

Ms. Fleming said that escalating insecurity in Côte d’Ivoire’s Abidjan was causing a sharp rise in displacement. Available estimates were that up to one million people could now be displaced in Abidjan and the immediate surroundings. These were mainly residents from the districts of Abobo, Adjamamé, Williamsville and Yopougon – some of the city’s most heavily populated areas. The massive displacement in Abidjan and elsewhere was being fueled by fears of all out war. This week, UNHCR had seen panic in Abidjan as thousands of youths had responded to the call for civilians to join the ranks of forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo. At least 462 civilians had lost their lives in Abidjan since the beginning of the post-electoral crisis, according to UN partners. Families fleeing areas of conflict told UNHCR monitors that they were afraid of being caught in the fighting and killed by stray bullets. Others said that they could no longer cope financially due to closures of banks and businesses and resulting unemployment. Costs of food had risen and there was little available in the markets. Price rises had also hit public transport; bus terminals were overcrowded with passengers desperate to get seats on vehicles heading to northern, central and eastern parts of the country, where there had been no fighting so far. Meanwhile in the west, armed confrontation was spreading and causing further displacement. Areas in the combat zones had been subject to mass looting, rapes and killings of civilians, mainly perpetrated by mercenaries and other unidentified armed groups. The UNHCR office in Guiglo had been looted on Wednesday by unidentified armed men who had taken away three vehicles and two motorbikes, all office equipments and furniture. Fortunately, the UNHCR staff had not been harmed. Vehicles had also been stolen from several other humanitarian agencies in the area. UNHCR condemned this plundering of its premises and reiterated its call to all parties to protect civilians and refrain from any further deliberate targeting of humanitarian organizations.

Ms. Fleming said that in neighboring Liberia, UNHCR had registered as of mid week 62,099 new arrivals since 24 February. This was in addition to the 39,784 registered before that. Most refugees were seeking safety in Nimba County. However, since this week, UNHCR had been seeing many more cross into Grand Gedeh County, further south. On Tuesday alone, more than 6,000 Ivorians had entered the region and settled in remote areas in and around Janzon, Tuzon and Sweaken, including in villages that were inaccessible by car. The new arrivals had fled from Blolequin. In Jazon, two girls claimed to have witnessed the killing of their father by armed men during the fight. Their mother had also gone missing. UNHCR was looking after the two sisters aged 16 and 9 and hoped to trace their mother through its implementing partners. Four people had drowned while crossing the Cavally River into Liberia when their boat capsized. Ms. Fleming said UNHCR was very concerned that the conflict would spill over from Côte d'Ivoire into Liberia through the porous 700 km border.

Ms. Pandya said that with conflict between rival forces now having reached the western town Guiglo in Côte d’Ivoire, accompanied by further violence and looting, IOM had learnt that close to 4,000 people had sought refuge in a former camp for the internally displaced managed by IOM until its closure in 2008. The displaced, mainly Burkinabés, but also Malians, Guineans and Ivorians, were at the site without shelter, food, water or access to health facilities. With the rainy season now starting, the lack of adequate shelter was particularly worrying. The conflict now made it impossible to access this group of people and provide them with the help they needed at what was now a largely empty site with very few hard structures on it. Peacekeeping forces from the United Nations Mission in Côte d’Ivoire had been sent to protect the camp after IOM had made an urgent appeal for the displaced to be given protection. IOM had also raised concern about a group of 25 orphans in a centre in Guiglo in urgent need of relocation to Man. The Organization had been providing the group with food and non-food assistance. However, with the situation in the town highly dangerous and with the deaths of two children this week from malaria, as fighting and roadblocks prevented doctors and medicines reaching them, relocation had been a priority. Today, security conditions permitting, and with the support of UNICEF, the orphans would be relocated to Man.

Ms. Pandya said that tension as well as violence also continued to grow in the country's main city, Abidjan. Despite the situation greatly hindering efforts to gauge the true extent of internal displacement in the city, IOM and UNHCR currently estimated that more than 19,000 people were displaced in churches, schools and other buildings in Abidjan, with another 60,000 staying with host families. The escalation in violence in the city had led to an exodus of its inhabitants from Abidjan to villages and towns outside and transport was now difficult to find. An on-going IOM evacuation of Mauritanian migrants from Abidjan had been affected by the lack of available buses. The Organization was examining all possibilities for the evacuation of stranded migrants as a result, especially as IOM had been asked to return at least 35,000 Guineans, Malians, Senegalese, Burkinabés and Mauritanians, with more requests for assistance coming in. However, funding was urgently required to ensure that the evacuation of stranded migrants from Côte d’Ivoire could continue. IOM had 1,200 Mauritanians ready to leave immediately. Meanwhile, growing numbers of Ivorians and migrants were now also fleeing into Ghana. Of the nearly 2,000 Ivorian refugees who had crossed into Ghana, more than 1,400 had arrived this week alone. IOM staff at the Takoradi border crossing with Côte d’Ivoire said that the migrants reception and transit centre for migrants was heavily over-crowded. More than 800 people were currently there despite it having a capacity to host only 200-300 people. Many migrants as a result were being hosted in neighbouring communities.

Ms. Pandya said that the number of French-speaking migrants from Côte d’Ivoire wanting to transit through Ghana was also increasing. IOM staff said these migrants preferred to head for Togo for linguistic reasons. Among them, a growing number of Guinean migrants from Côte d’Ivoire who wanted to return home and who needed assistance to do so. As well as assisting migrants to return home, IOM in Ghana was transporting all those crossing the border to the reception centre, as well as then taking Ivorian refugees to a UNHCR refugee camp. Staff said the majority of migrants arriving in Ghana did not have documents and embassies were at least a day's drive away in Accra. Further complications were arising with some nationals not having any government representation in Accra that could facilitate the issuing of emergency travel documents. With the situation in Côte d’Ivoire worsening on a daily basis, and with more people now expected to cross into Ghana, IOM was beefing up its presence at the border with additional operational and health staff.

Responding to a question, Ms. Momal-Vanian said that in accordance with its mandate to protect civilians, the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire was continuing to provide support to the population through increased patrols, medical assistance and monitoring, and the reporting of human rights violations. While the civilian population was still suffering greatly, only the Security Council could decide on an increase in the mandate and resources of the operation. Ms. Momal-Vanian said the Security Council would discuss the situation in Côte d’Ivoire today at 10 a.m. New York time.

Syria

Mr. Colville said that the situation in Syria had worsened considerably over the past week, with the use of live ammunition and teargas by the authorities resulting in a total of at least 37 people being killed in Daraa, including two children. OHCHR welcomed the Government’s decision to investigate the killings and reiterated its call for this investigation to be independent and impartial; those responsible for the killings must be held accountable. OHCHR also welcomed the release of those associated with the protests in Daraa, and hoped that all human rights defenders and political activists throughout Syria, who had also reportedly been arrested, would also be released without delay.

The Government had yesterday announced a set of political and economic reforms to be taken forward, including holding consultations that aimed at ending the state of emergency that had been in place since 1963. This was also welcome news and OHCHR would be closely monitoring the speedy and effective implementation of such reforms.

Tunisia

Mr. Colville said that the High Commissioner had decided to open a country office in Tunisia at the request of the Permanent Mission in Geneva. This would be OHCHR's second office in the North African region (there currently was a country office in Mauritania).

The High Commissioner had already deployed one international human rights officer to Tunisia to follow up on the recommendations made by senior experts after their assessment mission in early February, said Mr. Colville.

Egypt

Mr. Colville said that the High Commissioner was also deploying a high-level mission to Egypt on Sunday. The five-member team, led by Anders Kompass, the head of the OHCHR field operations and technical cooperation division, was scheduled to meet members of the Supreme Army Council, a number of ministers, and prominent judges, including the state general prosecutor, lawyers, human rights defenders, members of youth groups and other civil society actors. Concrete recommendations would then be made to the High Commissioner on the Office’s future engagement in the country.

Bahrain

Responding to a question, Mr. Colville said that the High Commissioner had yesterday met members of the Permanent Mission of Bahrain and reiterated her call to the authorities to exercise restraint. OHCHR understood that a fresh wave of mass protests had been announced for today and urged the Government not to use force against peaceful demonstrators.

Polio Vaccination Campaign in West Africa

Fadéla Chaib of the World Health Organization said she had brought English and French press releases on a synchronized campaign to fight polio in 15 West African countries. Starting on 28 April, the aim was to vaccinate more than 30 million children through a network of 180,000 volunteers and 48 million doses of vaccine. Since mid-2009 more than 11 countries had been re-infected with polio, which killed many children and left others paralysed for life.

Agenda

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that the Conference on Disarmament had examined the proposals of the President regarding the programme of work yesterday without reaching agreement. The Conference was expected to meet on Tuesday morning to continue discussing the programme of work, and next week would be the last week of the first part of the 2011 session.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said that UNOG would again participate in the initiative launched by the World Wildlife Fund; entitled “Earth Hour 2011”, namely the observance of an hour without light to be observed tomorrow from 20.30 p.m. to 21.30 p.m. The participation of UNOG symbolized the Organization’s commitment to fighting climate change, and all staff had been asked to turn off the lights before leaving work today. Journalists could receive the Secretary-General’s message on the occasion of this hour, which notably read: “All over the world, individuals, communities businesses and governments are creating new examples for our common future - new visions for sustainable living and new technologies to realize it. Tomorrow, let us join to celebrate this shared quest to protect the planet and ensure human well-being. Let us use 60 minutes of darkness to help the world see the light.”

Ms. Momal-Vanian said the Bahraini Minister for Social Development would brief journalists on the recent events in the country today at 12 p.m. in Room III and the President of the Human Rights Council would speak about the 16h regular session of the Council - ending today - at 2 p.m. in Press Room I.

UNOG and the International Organization of La Francophonie (IOF) would hold a seminar on multilingualism in international organizations on Monday 28 March, at 3 p.m. in Room XII, with the participation of UNOG Director-General, Mr. Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the Permanent Observer of the IOF, Mr. Ridha Bouabid, and other speakers.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said a dialogue examining climate change, environmental degradation and migration would open on 29 March at the International Conference Centre Geneva. More information was available in IOM's briefing note.

Jean Rodriguez of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe announced next week’s holding of the bi-yearly Commission session. Meetings of interest to journalists would be on Tuesday and Wednesday (29 and 30 March) in Room XIX. Amongst those speaking at the opening at 10.45 a.m. on 29 March were WIPO Director General Francis Gurry, the Chairman of the Eurasian Development Bank, Igor Finogenov, and the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Gennady Gatilov. In the afternoon there would be an interactive discussion on Transport and Trade Infrastructure, and a roundtable on improving energy networks and energy efficiency; one on the diversification of energy sources would be held in the morning of Wednesday, 30 March. Keynotes would be provided by Fabrizio Barbaso, the Deputy Director General Energy of the European Commission, Yoshiteru Uramoto, the Deputy to the Director-General of UNIDO, and Anatoly Yanovsky, the Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation.

Mr. Rodriguez said that on Wednesday 30 March UNECE would host a lunch-time roundtable on the role of women and gender equality in the region, as well as on policies to improve gender equality. In relation to this meeting, all heads of delegations, participants and staff were invited to jointly sign a declaration of personal commitment to road safety at 1 p.m. on Tuesday.

Ankai Xu of the World Trade Organization said the Trade Negotiating Committee would hold an informal meeting at 10 a.m. next Tuesday, 29 March. On Wednesday the Russian Membership Negotiations and Informal Chair Consultations would be held.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy would be in Brussels on Saturday 26 March to attend the Brussels Forum, organized by the German Marshall Fund of the United States. He would also chair the informal meeting of the Trade Negotiating Committee and be in Nairobi, Kenya, on 31 March for a round-table meeting with the Kenyan Prime Minister and the private sector and to meet with various Kenyan Ministers. On 1 April Mr. Lamy would attend the United Nations System Chief Executive Board meeting at UNEP headquarters.

Ms. Xu said WTO would have a trade statistics release on 7 April. From 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. journalists could review the press release, before a press conference by the Director-General and WTO's Chief Economist and Chief Statistician at 11 a.m.

Mr. Härtl said that the International Health Regulations Review Committee would be meeting next week from Monday to Wednesday. The Monday session was open to journalists and at the end of the day there should be a press briefing with Harry Feinberg.

Mr. Colville said OHCHR will be issuing an appeal to Governments very shortly to ask for around USD 7 million to cover a range of activities in North Africa and the Middle East.

Demise of Victor Kocher

A minute of silence was observed in memory of Victor Kocher, a former member of the Geneva press corps and reporter for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Gunilla von Hall said Victor Kocher had died in an accident one week ago and that his funeral yesterday had been very dignified, beautiful and sad. Mohamed Cherif added that with Victor Kocher the press corps had not only lost a colleague and friend, but the world had also lost a Middle East specialist who had followed the events there for more than 30 years.