REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Elena Ponomareva-Piquier, Officer-in-charge of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing which was attended by Spokespersons for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Refugee Agency.

Secretary-General

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that yesterday the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, had given an account to the UN Security Council of the visit he had undertaken to Myanmar, at the invitation of this country, on 3-4 July. In his statement, the Secretary-General had said that the trip’s objective had been to engage the country’s senior leadership directly on several serious and long-standing concerns which could not have been left unaddressed at the current critical stage of Myanmar’s transition.

The Secretary-General had further told the Council that given the attention on the ongoing trial of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and on the eve of Myanmar’s first election in 20 years, it had been necessary to raise those concerns and extend United Nations assistance to advance national reconciliation, democracy, respect for human rights and sustainable development, said Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier.

The refusal of the senior leadership to allow him to meet with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had not only been a deep disappointment, but also a major lost opportunity for Myanmar, he had said. Allowing such a meeting would have sent a constructive, conciliatory signal inside the country and abroad, the Secretary-General had added, said Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier. The Secretary-General addressed the press following his briefing to the Security Council. The Secretary-General’s statement and the transcript of his press encounter were available in the Press Room.

In another statement, the Secretary-General had said that he was ready to help President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica in his mediation efforts to resolve the political crisis in Honduras, said Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier.

Tomorrow, 15 July, the Secretary-General would attend the Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, added Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier.

Economic and Social Council

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that this morning the Council was continuing its Coordination Segment which, this year, focused on the role of the UN System in the implementation of the 2008 Ministerial Declaration on “implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to sustainable development”.

Today the Council would also hold a roundtable discussion called: “Towards a UN comprehensive response to the challenges of climate change”. This afternoon, the Council would hold a panel discussion on effective sustainable development strategies and country level experience, before concluding its Coordination Segment. Tomorrow the Council would start its Operational Activities Segment, which would last until the end of the week, said Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier.

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said that tomorrow 15 July, the Council would hold a special session on “One UN” in Rwanda from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., which would bring together the agencies of the UN System’s Chief Executive Board’s Inter-agency Cluster on Trade and Productive Capacities.

Human Rights Committee

Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier said that the Human Rights Committee had opened its ninety-sixth session in Geneva yesterday and had begun its consideration of the fourth periodic report of Tanzania, which would end this morning. This afternoon and tomorrow morning the Committee would start its consideration of the periodic report of the Netherlands. Chad would present its initial report to the Committee on Thursday and Friday.

The Committee would present its concluding observations on the implementation of the Covenant by all examined countries at the end of its three-week session on 31 July, said Ms. Ponomareva-Piquier.

Situation in Pakistan

Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme (WFP) said that WFP began distributing rations on 30 June, through a partner local Non-governmental organisation, to some of the people that were beginning to return. They had pre-positioned food for about 2,000 families, or 10,000 people, at Bajaur. WFP was further establishing a similar amount at a hub at Buner.

In June, WFP had fed nearly 2 million people who had been displaced by the recent fighting. The July distributions had begun on 8 July. WFP was already distributing, on average, food to 100,000 people per day, said Ms. Casella.

Paul Garwood of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that WHO had completed a high-level mission to Pakistan on Friday. WHO was still continuing very intensive efforts to respond to the crisis in the country. The scale of the crisis continued to exhaust the current health system’s ability to meet all needs. As they were hearing of limited returns of people to their homes, almost 2 million people still remained in internally displaced persons camps or mostly in host communities.

This situation was further compounded by the coming monsoon season, said Mr. Garwood, which would result in higher risks to displaced women and children under five would be especially at risk to catch respiratory infections, malaria, and other water-borne diseases.

During the response to the current crisis, WHO had delivered medicines that could treat almost 1 million people and additional medicines that could treat further 2 million was in the pipeline. WHO had established sub-offices, or hubs, in areas close to the displaced communities, said Mr. Garwood. They provided medicines and essential drugs and medical supplies directly to internally displaced persons camps and health facilities.

WHO had further seen that in the conflict area itself, 60 to 70 per cent of the health services had been provided by the private sector. All theses services had been basically shut down and 60 per cent of health services had either been looted, damaged or destroyed, said Mr. Garwood. One of WHO’s major concerns was to ensure that returnees had health systems that were functional and particularly that these were manned by staff. There was also a major gap in female health workers available to treat, particularly, female returnees which in this part of the world preferred to be treated by women.

Ron Redmond of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) gave an update on the repatriation exercise that was now underway by the Government. Some 900 Pakistanis, about 150 families, who had been displaced by the conflict in the Swat, Buner and Lower Dir districts of the North-West Frontier Province had headed for home yesterday as the government had begun its return operation. Another 5,200 people had been scheduled to return home today, according to government.

Asylum Seekers – Italy/Libya

Mr. Redmond said that UNHCR staff in Libya had been carrying out interviews with 82 people who had been intercepted by the Italian Navy on the high seas on July 1 about 30 nautical miles from the Italian island of Lampedusa. They had been transferred to a Libyan ship and later transported to Libya. Based on subsequent interviews, it did not appear that the Italian Navy had made any attempt to establish the nationalities or reasons for fleeing their countries.

Once in Libya, the group had been placed in detention centers where UNHCR had had the opportunity to carry out interviews. Of those attempting to reach Italy, 76 originated from Eritrea, including nine women and at least six children, said Mr. Redmond. Based on UNHCR’s assessment of the situation in Eritrea and their interviews with the people themselves, it was clear that a significant number from this group were in need of international protection.

Mr. Redmond said that during interviews UNHCR has heard disturbing accounts alleging that force had been used by Italian personnel during the transfer to the Libyan vessel. According to these allegations, six people from Eritrea had needed medical attention as a result. The individuals had also alleged that their personal effects, including vital documents, had been seized by the Italian Navy during the operation and had not yet been returned to them. Those interviewed had spoken of their distress after four days at sea and had said that the Italian Navy had not offered them any food during the 12-hour operation to return them to Libya.

In view of the seriousness of these allegations, UNHCR had sent a letter to the Italian Government requesting information on the treatment of people returned to Libya and asking that international norms be respected, said Mr. Redmond.

Over the past years, Italy had rescued thousands of people in distress from the Mediterranean, providing assistance and protection to those in need and had a very good record of humanitarian assistance, said Mr. Redmond. Since the beginning of May, a new push-back policy had been introduced and at least 900 people trying to reach Italy by sea had now been sent to other countries, mainly to Libya. UNHCR had expressed serious concerns about the impact of this new policy which, in the absence of adequate safeguards, could prevent access to asylum and undermined the international principle of non-refoulement.

A journalist wondered whether UNHCR was following on the fact that a democratic country was sending people to a country, which some said was a dictatorship.

Mr. Redmond answered that Italy had introduced some fairly controversial legislation and UNHCR was still examining it. There were elements that caused considerable concern. UNCHR was still engaged with Italian authorities in trying to determine how they could alleviate some of the problems that had since arisen. According to news reports, there had been attacks on foreigners in Italy that had been prompted by people who had said that they were simply carrying out the government’s policies. This caused considerable concern to UNHCR, as the last thing one needed to see was more xenophobia in Europe. UNHCR was watching the situation quite closely and was considerably concerned about it.

Another journalist wondered whether UNHCR had sought to push the Libyan authorities to treat asylum seekers as such.

Mr. Redmond said that UNHCR had a presence in Libya and that they have been working with the authorities there. They have also been getting access to people who had been returned to Libya. UNHCR was examining different ways to deal with this situation, as they did it in all countries that did not have asylum systems. UNHCR was also looking at ways to help governments across North Africa to build effective asylum systems where people could get protection. But this was not something that could be done overnight and safeguards did not exist in Libya right now.

Asylum Seekers - Greece

Mr. Redmond said that in Greece, UNHCR was concerned about the fate of hundreds of irregular migrants, including asylum seekers and refugees, following the closure over the weekend of a makeshift camp in the Greek city of Patras. Early on Sunday the Greek authorities had moved in to clear the makeshift camp and during the operation 44 unaccompanied minors had been found and transferred to a special reception centre in Konitsa, northern Greece. A further 20-25 registered asylum seekers had been identified and moved to accommodation in Patras, while an unknown number of undocumented residents of the camp had been arrested and taken to Patras police station.

After all the residents had been evacuated a fire ripped through the camp. Mr. Redmond said that the source of the fire was unknown. UNHCR had long maintained that the makeshift camp at Patras was not providing appropriate accommodation for the people sheltering there. However, UNHCR was concerned that no alternative had been provided for many of the people who had been living at the site. UNHCR understood that many former residents – including registered asylum seekers – had abandoned the site before the clearance operation. Their whereabouts were unknown. It was feared that many were now homeless, said Mr. Redmond.

UNHCR had been consistently urging the Greek authorities to improve the quality of its reception facilities for asylum seekers. The lack of interpretation and legal aid services at the Patras police station limited the authorities’ ability to receive and process the claims of the asylum seekers, said Mr. Redmond. A significant number of the asylum seekers identified recently were minors; UNHCR would like to work with the Greek authorities to ensure that adequate solutions were found for this group. It was important that all the asylum seekers affected by the operation were not expelled from the country until their protection needs had been appropriately assessed.

In another development of concern to UNHCR, a new law had been adopted last week in Greece which decentralised asylum decision making at first instance to over 50 police directorates across the country. It also abolished the existing appeals commission in favor of a limited judicial review before the Council of State, which would address only points of law and not correct errors of fact. These new developments were likely to make protection even more elusive for those who needed it in Greece, said Mr. Redmond.

UNHCR recognized the considerable pressure which irregular migration placed on Greece. UNHCR continued to reiterate its readiness to work with Greece to improve asylum procedures in that country. During 2008 there had been nearly 20,000 asylum applications lodged in Greece and in the course of the year, international protection had been accorded to just 379 of them.

A journalist wondered where the majority of asylum seekers that went to Greece came from.

Mr. Redmond said that the majority of them were young Afghan males. Further, the recognition rates in Greece were an indication of the existing discrepancies between countries within the European Union. A very small percentage of asylum applicants had actually been recognized as refugees in Greece. Compared to the figures in other countries in Europe, the discrepancies really jumped out. UNHCR’s position had always been that asylum seekers needed to be protected; they needed to have access to asylum procedures. UNHCR wanted effective and fast asylum procedures that protected people and that these could also have an appeals process in place that was also fair and effective.

Early Childhood Development Emergency Kit

Véronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that UNICEF would launch tomorrow its Early Childhood Development Kit, a brand new UNICEF tool for young children, aged 0-6 years, in emergencies. Ms. Ann Veneman, UNICEF Executive Director would present the tool to the press in Geneva at 2:00 p.m. on 15 July 2009.

Humanitarian Aid

Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme (WFP) said that on 16 July at 2:30 p.m., Mr. Staffan de Mistura, WFP’s new Deputy Executive Director would brief the media on WFP food assistance priorities and the recent G8 Summit commitments to help improve food security in the developing world. Mr. de Mistura, has started with WFP in 1971 and re-joined WFP on July 1 after completing his term as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Iraq.

Trade and Development

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said that Friday 17 July, they would hold a press conference to present the World Investment Prospects Survey 2009 – 2011. James Zhan, Director, UNCTAD Division on Investment and Enterprise and two experts would be present to answer questions.