REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Ahmad Fawzi, United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing attended by spokespersons of the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Refugee Agency, and the International Organization for Migration.
Geneva activities
Committees
The Conference on Disarmament was holding a public plenary at 10 a.m. in the Council Chamber.
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which had opened on 6 June in Room XXII (E Building) of the Palais des Nations, 58th was concluding this morning the review of the report of France (begun on 6 June in the afternoon). It would then begin in the afternoon the review of the report of Sweden.
During this 58th session, until 24 June, the Committee would successively examine the reports presented by France, Sweden, Honduras, Burkina Faso, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Angola and the United Kingdom under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. On 23 June, in the afternoon, the Committee would hold a joint meeting with the Human Rights Committee, in the context of the commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights.
Press conferences and other announcements
Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that WHO would be sending several embargoed press releases at 2 p.m. today on the elimination of HIV and syphilis mother-to-child transmission in several countries. The embargo would be in force until midnight today.
Mr. Fawzi announced a press conference today at 3 p.m. in Press Room 1, by the Permanent Mission of the United Kingdom. Pre-Human Rights Council 32nd Session, the UK would summarise its plans for the sessions, and highlight key issues that it expected to be focusing on. The speaker would be Ambassador Julian Braithwaite, Permanent Representative of the UK to the UN in Geneva.
On 8 June at 9 a.m. in Press Room 1, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) would hold a press conference on the Human Rights Council 32nd regular session (13 June-1 July). The speaker would be Ambassador Choi Kyong-lim (Republic of Korea), President of the Human Rights Council (10th cycle).
On 8 June at 11.30 a.m. in Room III, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) would hold a press conference with Mike Smith, Chair of the Commission of Inquiry on human rights in Eritrea, who would present the Commission’s second report.
Lastly, on 9 June at 12 p.m. in Press Room 1, the Committee on the Rights of the Child would hold a press conference presenting its Concluding Observations on Samoa, Nepal, UK, Slovakia, Pakistan, Gabon, Bulgaria and Luxembourg.
Mr. Fawzi reminded correspondents of that statement made by the Secretary-General, expressing sorrow over the passing of Muhammad Ali over the weekend, and said the UNOG Director-General Michael Moller and “all of us in Geneva share those expressions of sorrow. He was a great man.” Muhammad Ali was a United Nations Messenger of Peace since the 1990s, who had travelled the globe to support children and others caught up in conflict, and promote reconciliation between people and nations. Even before his appointment as Messenger of Peace by the UN Secretary-General he had come to the UN in the 1970s to campaign against apartheid and racial injustice.
Syria
In response to a question, Mr. Fawzi said that the issue of Government approval for aid deliveries was a political issue, and had to be dealt with politically. He clarified that airdrops were not off the table in Syria and would always be on the table as a last resort. Whenever deliveries by land were possible, that was the preferred option, as it had been stated time and time again. Land deliveries were cheaper, faster, economic, efficient, and effective. The blockage of aid was a political issue. Daraya was 12 kilometres from Damascus, so deliveries were possible, but the political go-ahead from the Government was needed. The Humanitarian Coordinator had submitted to the Government on 5 June a request, in the form of a note verbale requesting full approvals to deliver a complete package of assistance to all the locations that had been either partially approved or not approved. A response was being awaited. Air delivery was not off the table, whether it were air drops from high-altitudes or airlifts by aircraft or helicopter. The World Food Programme had drawn up a comprehensive plan over a two-month period, to deliver to the aforementioned locations by air.
In response to questions, Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spoke to the specific question about Daraya and the second part of the convoy, which was with food. The update that he had received as of the morning of 7 June was that only a partial approval for overland transport of the second instalment of that convoy had been received. That was not good enough, and the UN was reverting to the Government to request full access, in order to be able to send the full convoy with all the food that had been in the plan for June. It was ongoing, and OCHA did not have a planning date yet for when that would happen.
The convoys were very finely calibrated in terms of the kind of relief that was on them, be it foodstuffs or others, what kind of trucks were being driven, how many of them, how the food was to be distributed, and so on. The second part of the convoy was primarily food, and that part had not received the full approval. The UN was therefore reverting to the authorities to request a full approval as soon as possible. When a request was met with a refusal or a partial approval, that did not trigger a new demand. It triggered an increased advocacy and outreach from the UN's side to the Government so that the request could be responded to in full.
The written request submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 5 June included a plan for airlifts – not airdrops - as a last resort, to Daraya, Duma and Moadamiya in rural Damascus Governorate, and Al-Waer in Homs Governorate. That request would only come into play if, for whatever reason, the UN could not get land access. The UN was taking this on a day by day basis and the priority right now was to have full land access to all the locations in the June convoy plan, and that was still being pushed with the authorities as that was the best and most efficient option. However, in the written request to the Government there was also the plan for airlifts if the overland access was not provided. From a humanitarian point of view, airlifts were a modality and a mechanism to provide food or other relief items to those who needed them the most.
In response to a question about a planned offensive on Al-Raqqa, Mr. Laerke also said that there was rolling contingency planning for various areas in the country, which took into account such developments and messages coming from various parties on the ground. Such plans were being considered at all times.
The UN was taking this on a day by day basis as they were constantly pushing the authorities to give them the access that the suffering people so desperately needed. The priority remained to get land access to all besieged and hard to reach locations in Syria, and that was the option that the UN was pursuing as it was the best and the most efficient.
Mr. Laerke said that the “one day at a time” approach was being used in the discussions with the Government about how the UN could implement its monthly plans. Plans were being made one month ahead, which was why there were statistics about how many – or how few - locations of those submitted had been reached. The UN was pursuing vigorously the option of land access, but there was a secondary plan, a last resort, and that was an airlift to the locations mentioned previously.
In response to another question, Mr. Fawzi said that it was not just the UN alone putting pressure on the parties, it was the members of the International Syria Support Group, who had been crucial in opening avenues that before had been shut. If a door was blocked, the UN tried every way to open it. The UN continued to put pressure on the parties, whether that be the Government, the rebels or whoever was blocking aid, because lives were at stake. The UN was working very hard with the Government and with members of the ISSG to gain access by whatever means possible, whether by land, airdrops or airlifting. The UN was knocking on every door and asking those with influence to exercise that influence.
Burundi
Christophe Boulierac, for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said that UNICEF was concerned about the arrests, expulsions from school and injuries of students in Burundi schools. On 26-27 May, 334 students had been expelled from two schools in Ruziba close to Bujumbura, under the pretext of having defaced textbooks. Since then, the children had been invited to go back to school, but many had not gone back. Then, on 3 June, several high school students aged between 14 and 17 years old, had been arrested and interrogated for similar reasons, in three different schools in the Muramvya commune, about an hour east from Bujumbura. Following the incident, other students from those schools had protested in the streets against the arrests, and two of them had been injured by gunfire. UNICEF was present on the ground and with its partners and was following developments in those cases directly. UNICEF was deeply concerned by those incidents, which had happened in the run up to school exams. All children in Burundi had the right to pursue their studies and to take their exams in a secure environment. Schools should be respected as zones where children could find peace and refuge. UNICEF was calling on all parties to immediately ensure the full respect of children’s right to education in Burundi and their protection from violence.
More than 300 children were in arbitrary detention in Burundi since the beginning of the crisis in April 2015. Most of them were being detained in prisons for adults, in deplorable conditions. UNICEF and its partners had been continuously appealing for the release of those children, and more than 134 children had already been released to their families. Others had been moved to centres which were specifically dedicated to children.
About a quarter of the children coming to the Child-Friendly Spaces set up by UNICEF had shown signs of trauma following exposure to scenes of violence. There were over 25,000 internally displaced people in Burundi, 58 per cent of them children. More than 260,000 refugees in neighbouring countries, 54 per cent of them children. Since the beginning of the crisis, 30 children had been killed.
Another worrying element of context was the cut in public funding and of foreign aid, which accounted for 50 per cent of the national budget. The national education budget had decreased by one third and the health care budget, by more than half. More than 1,800 000 children under five in Burundi and 500,000 pregnant women have been affected by the shortage of essential drugs. UNICEF had stepped in to provide essential drugs to cover immediate needs, flying in basic medication for children on cargo relief flights. But an important funding gap remained. If funding was not secured, health services for children risked being jeopardized across Burundi’s 900 health centres and 46 district hospitals.
In response to questions, Mr. Boulierac said that those incidents needed to be placed in the context of increasing vulnerability of children, in a situation where political tensions were rife, and that this was unacceptable.
Zika
Christian Lindmeier, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that early next week, there would be an emergency committee on Zika. The date and time would be confirmed once it would be announced to the regional and country offices. A virtual press briefing would take place in the evening following the meeting, around 7-8 p.m.
It was a regular emergency committee mandated, under the International Health Regulations, to meet again within three months to review recommendations. The last meeting had been on 8 March. The role of the emergency committee was to review all new science that had come in over the past few months and make new recommendations if necessary.
In response to questions, Mr. Lindmeier said that the committee would look at whether the previous recommendations, including the qualification of Zika as a public health emergency of international concern, still stood. He also said that the committee would look at the evidence around the Olympics and most likely review the travel guidance around it. In response to another question, he said that the Chair of the committee remained the same (Dr. David Heymann). There was not a significant risk of the global spread of Zika. The risk inherent to Zika was significant but could be minimized through a package of measures to be taken by the authorities in Brazil, the organizers of the Olympics in Rio, hotel managers, as well as personal protection measures.
In response to other questions, Mr. Lindmeier confirmed that WHO Director-General Margaret Chan had written a letter to United States Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, in reaction to the Senator’s concerns, and that the letter was public. Mr. Lindmeier also underscored the importance of personal protection measures such as using mosquito repellent. In response to one last question, Mr. Lindmeier said that there was a lot of concern about the virus as it was still little-known and the routes of transmission, the path it took, the countries it was spreading to, were still being studied. The best way to react to emotional concerns was to look at the deep science and give clear guidance as well as possible, using the available information.
Niger
Adrian Edwards, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that tens of thousands of people had fled their homes in south-east Niger following a series of attacks since 3 June by Boko Haram insurgents on the town of Bosso in the troubled Diffa region. The attacks had occurred on 3, 5 and 6 June. UNHCR had warned in May that the security and humanitarian situation had been worsening in the Diffa Region. UNHCR had not been working directly in Bosso since February 2015, when the insurgency had spread from Nigeria to Niger, but they were operating through local implementing partners to deliver help.
UNHCR was working with the authorities and partners on a coordinated response to the displacement. A UNHCR emergency team would be deployed to the Diffa region this week. Violence had escalated throughout May in and around Bosso, including an assault on 31 May in the nearby town of Yebi that had left nine people dead and had forced an estimated 15,000 residents and displaced people to seek shelter in Bosso. Many had been evacuated a year ago from islands in Lake Chad for security reasons.
An estimated 50,000 people had fled Friday’s attack, mainly walking westwards to Toumour, some 30 kilometres west of Bosso. Many people were traumatized and worried about their safety. People had been sleeping in the open and urgently needed shelter and other assistance. Some of the displaced had moved on from Toumour and were heading to the town of Diffa, which was located 140 kilometres west of Bosso, and northwards towards Kabelawa where a camp for the internally displaced was near capacity with some 10,000 people.
The welfare of those people and others forced to flee the violence in Bosso was of great concern. Insecurity and lack of access had long hampered humanitarian operations in parts of the Diffa region. Funding was very low there: USD 112 million had been requested for 22 agencies as part of the coordinated response, and only USD 20 million had been received. Additional support from the donor community was urgently required.
The attacks on Bosso had come just ahead of the start of a high-level meeting from 6 to 8 June in Abuja to discuss the major protection challenges in the Lake Chad basin, including Niger. More details were available in the briefing note.
In response to questions, Mr. Edwards said that UNHCR worked in Diffa town and in most of the region. The additional team would coming to help deal with the latest movements that had been seen. Some 2.7 million people were displaced across the Lake Chad basin, and about a quarter of a million of those were in Niger. The problems with security in the area were problems of lack of access. People were spread out along Route 1, making getting aid to them especially difficult.
Mediterranean arrivals
Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that there was new information on the shipwreck in Crete the previous week. IOM had learned from survivors in Augusta, Italy, that 648 or 650 men, women and children had been on that ship originally. There were dramatic stories about families and children on board, including parents who had entrusted their children to other migrants when they felt they would not be able to survive.
Mediterranean migrant arrivals were running 2,000 below the same time in 2015. Some 3,373 Syrians had arrived in Italy from Libya over the first five months of 2015. In 2016 over the same time period, that number was 135. The closing of the Balkan route had not resulted in a shift towards the Libyan route for Syrians. The number of minors on the Libyan route had doubled from 3,085 through the first five months of 2015 to 7,009 through the first five months of 2016.
Mr. Millman also said that IOM would do a formal release with UNHCR at the end of the week on the 2 million internally displaced people in Yemen.
In response to questions, Mr. Millman said that there were almost 1,000 more deaths through the first five months of 2016 than over the same period in 2015, which had been the deadliest year on record. There were 2,427 deaths on the Central Mediterranean route and 376 deaths on the Eastern route. For the moment, it seemed that smuggling was more reckless in 2016 than it had been in 2015, which would explain the higher casualties. He reiterated that the traffic was not related to the closing down of the Turkey to Greece route, as the nationalities of migrants arriving through the Central Mediterranean route were completely different.
Mr. Edwards specified that the threshold of 10,000 deaths since the start of 2014 had recently been crossed, which was extremely disturbing. Regarding the modalities of trafficking in Libya, there was information that people were being pushed to make the crossing before the start of the month of Ramadan, and people had been held in Libya for some time before embarking.
Mr. Millman also said that the sharp rise in unaccompanied minors on the Mediterranean route was due to a strong pull to reunify families, and long wait times for visas. The numbers out of Egypt were rising, perhaps in connection with the fact that Libya had become more and more dangerous. There was a substantial increase in numbers of unaccompanied minors coming from Gambia, Egypt, Ivory Coast and Guinea. Most of the migrants on the route were coming from Sub-Saharan Africa.
In response to a question, Mr. Millman specified that the IOM office in Athens had been the source of IOM’s original information about the shipwreck, reporting the presence of 700 people on the boat. The current number was between 648 and 650, after having talked to survivors. There were 342 survivors of the shipwreck and the remaining people were missing. Mr. Edwards said that IOM and UNHCR were using the same sources, the coast guard in the various countries affected.
In response to another question, Mr. Millman said that the numbers for Latin America were derived almost entirely from press reports and social media. The numbers of deaths on the United States – Mexico reported by the border patrol were only of bodies which were brought to the morgues in the United States, and there were many other deaths on the border which went under-reported.
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The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unis070616