REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, Director of the UN Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was attended by the Spokespersons for the World Food Programme, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the Human Rights Council, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization and the International Organization for Migration.

Ebola

Birte Hald, for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said that on 28 January, the IFRC had hosted an Ebola Partners Forum in Geneva. A joint statement was issued which was co-signed by the IFRC, United Nations, World Health Organization, European Commission and the African Development Bank. Ms. Hald stressed that it was too early to be complacent, as the Ebola outbreak was not over yet. Media attention was waning yet it was important to sustain attention as otherwise there would be risks of it becoming endemic. Thinking had to start on how to support recovery, especially in health sectors and structures of the three most affected countries. In other countries, with stronger health sectors, Ebola had been prevented or contained in time.

Work was being done on strengthening the capacity to contain future shocks, but it might take a while to reach zero cases. IFRC would soon present a real-time evaluation. Ms. Hald informed that the Red Cross had 20,000 volunteers in the area, 6,000 of whom were directly involved in response to flaring ups in new areas, contact identification, isolation, safe and dignified burials and social mobilization.

Asked how much time was needed to contain the epidemic, Ms. Hald said that nobody would be able to provide an even approximate date, and a word of caution was really necessary. In Guinea and Sierra Leone, Ebola was regularly flaring up in new districts. It would be a success if Ebola were to be stopped in the course of 2015.

On whether the activities of the volunteer force would be changing given that the epidemics was declining, Ms. Hald said that the IFRC would train its volunteers to engage even more actively in contact mobilization, and be ready to be deployed if new cases evolved.

On whether the Red Cross was involved in vaccine testing, Ms. Hald answered that they were not.

Responding on whether the flare-ups were completely new, Ms. Hald said that there was always a serious investigation when there were new cases. In as many as 40 per cent of cases, there was no knowledge on how people had become infected.

Asked to explain the difference between 12,000 safe and signified burials that she mentioned and 8,000 Ebola casualties quoted by the WHO, Ms. Hald stated that the Red Cross was sometimes called to conduct burials even if people were only suspected of having died of Ebola; sometimes it turned out that the deceased were not in fact Ebola victims. That explained the discrepancy.

Asked whether the number of cases going down was real or due to not all cases being counted, Ms. Hald said that the cases were indeed going down due to multiple efforts by a number of partners.

Ms. Hald said that there were still some communities in Guinea where there was no access, which could pose a great problem. If there was no full access to all areas in Guinea, there was a danger of Ebola becoming permanent. In some regions, it was still not safe to send teams, due to community resistance. IFRC was constantly working on social mobilization, cooperating with local authorities and police. In January, there had nonetheless been quite a few incidents. There were still a lot of misconceptions, which were decreasing, but were still present. Some in the local population still believed that Ebola was spreading through spraying chlorine, for example.

Asked whether the World Health Organization had access to those communities in Guinea, Fadéla Chaib responded that community engagement was the most important activity in fighting Ebola. Thanks to various efforts by partners, international and local, many local communities had been persuaded to work with the WHO and others. Many prefectures in Guinea and districts in Liberia and Sierra Leone had, nevertheless, reported security incidents. Numbers were declining in the most affected countries; efforts were now moving from rapidly building infrastructure to identifying and finding all cases, but one unsafe burial could cause a new chain of transmission.

Nigerian Refugees in Cameroon

Elisabeth Byrs, for the World Food Programme (WFP), stated that attacks and insecurity were on the rise on both sides of the Nigerian-Cameroonian border. New population movements into Cameroon from Nigeria had been reported in recent weeks in addition to increasing displacement of local population fleeing from border areas, where whole villages had been destroyed and services closed.

WFP was planning to assist 96,068 people in Cameroon, including Nigerian refugees, IDPs and vulnerable local populations affected by attacks and prevailing general insecurity. The security situation in the region made it increasingly risky for humanitarian agencies to operate.

Movements had been hampered, which had had a direct impact on access to land, as well as on economic and market activities that depended on movements between towns and across the border. The planting season had also been disrupted. Local communities were affected and food insecurity was on the increase.

Ms. Byrs specified that some 29,000 Nigerian refugees were currently being hosted in a refugee site in Minawao, Far North region. WFP was providing food assistance to refugees upon their arrival in the site.

Many children and women were affected by malnutrition. WFP had reinforced support to health centers in affected areas to treat malnourished children between six and 59 months and pregnant and nursing women. Some 365 refugee children and 100 pregnant and nursing women had received nutritional support so far.

WFP had initiated the first distribution to some 20,000 IDPs in the three most affected departments of the Far North in November 2014. Due to breaks in commodity supplies, a second round had not yet been realized.

In Cameroon, about 20,000 – 30,000 persons had been internally displaced by attacks in three divisions of the Far North region.

There were around 36,400 Nigerian refugees, according to the UNHCR, in the Far North region of Cameroon. UN agencies were expecting the number to be even higher, but due to the prevailing security situation, exact refugee numbers were difficult to come by.

Turning to funding, Ms. Byrs said that the WFP’s financial requirements for the year 2015 for the Cameroon Emergency Operation were estimated at USD 23 million. The operation was currently facing a shortfall of 65 percent (USD 15 million) of total requirements.

Ms. Byrs specified that the WFP food distributions in Lac Region, Chad, started on the 23 January in Ngouboua until the 27 January, with distribution of 10 days rations to 2,147 people.

Ms. Momal-Vanian added that she had sent to the press corps the remarks made today by the Secretary-General at the African Union Summit in which he addressed the current crisis in northern Nigeria and other crises across the region.

Xenophobic violence in Johannesburg

Joel A. Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that the IOM had condemned violence directed against foreign nationals and their businesses by Soweto residents, which had now spread to two other Johannesburg townships – Alexandra and Langlaagte.

The violence served as a painful reminder of the continued vulnerability of migrants in South Africa. The IOM was calling on the Government to take urgent measures to protect the safety, the property and the dignity of all South African residents, including foreign nationals.

Migrants were disproportionally affected by violent crime, often because of the areas in which they lived and worked. Negative public perceptions of migrants could make them targets and if they were easily recognizable, criminals and mobs could single them out.

Prejudices and stereotypes about migrants unfortunately fuelled the sentiments of those who chose to loot and plunder the shops of hard-working entrepreneurs, simply because of their ethnic background. The misperception still existed that migrants came to South Africa to steal jobs and take advantage of the social system. In reality, many migrants created jobs and generated economic activity, which benefited all South Africans.

IOM was inviting the Government to engage in dialogue with migrants and civil society organizations to discuss the role, the position and the image of migrants in the country.

IOM commended the Government for publicly taking a stand against looting, intolerance and discrimination, and offered its support to help find ways to further promote the inclusiveness and multiculturalism that South Africa was famous for.

Asked about predominant nationalities of the affected migrants, Mr. Millman said that most were Somali, but there were also Ethiopians. Some deaths could even be South Africans mistaken for migrants.

On what the basis for such hostility was, Mr. Millman explained that over the previous five years, there had been periods of violence and rioting against migrants. South Africa had such a positive reputation in so many other aspects that it attracted a lot of migrants from all over the continent, especially from the LGBT community, given that South Africa was very open about same sex relations. A lot of migrants also wanted to migrate further to South America and then to North America, and some wanted to start businesses because there was a much more vibrant economy than in their countries of origin. Some violence was in part triggered by the fear that they were driving wages down, in the mining industry, for example, where tens of thousands of Mozambicans worked.

Asylum seekers in Greece

William Spindler, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), stated that the UNHCR was today releasing a report on the current situation of asylum in Greece. The report commended Greece for reforms it had undertaken during a period of economic difficulties and limited resources, but it also pointed to multiple gaps and concerns and carried a recommendation that asylum-seekers should still not be returned there.

The report was based on an assessment done during the last quarter of 2014. In 2014, Greece had been among countries of the Mediterranean that saw a dramatic increase in refugee and migrant arrivals by sea. In all, around 43,500 people had arrived there via sea crossings, a 280 per cent increase from 2013. About 60 per cent were from Syria, but there were also substantial numbers of Afghans, Somalis and Eritreans. Many moved on to other EU states.

Mr. Spindler said that the report’s recommendation that asylum-seekers should not be returned to Greece extended the advice first made in 2008. As well as applying to returns done bilaterally between countries, the recommendation also applied to transfers done under the European Union’s Dublin regulation, which determined the country in which an asylum claim was processed.

The main problems of Greece’s asylum system included difficulties in accessing the asylum procedure, a continuing backlog of unresolved cases under the old procedure, risk of arbitrary detention, inadequate reception conditions, lack of identification and support for individuals with specific needs, push-backs of people at the border, concerns over integration prospects and support for refugees, xenophobia and racist violence.

Access to asylum remained challenging in part due to a lack of regional Asylum Service offices for processing claims and a shortage of Asylum Service staff. An individual who wanted to seek asylum and was unable to register or failed to register promptly might be at risk of return and, potentially, refoulement - being sent to a country where his or her life or liberty could be in danger.

Despite the efforts of the authorities to process a backlog of some 37,000 appeals under the old procedure, the backlog remained. People wishing to apply for asylum could be detained without an individual assessment or without alternatives to detention being considered. Others applying while in detention remained there until their asylum application was registered, which could take months.

Mr. Spindler explained that accommodation for asylum-seekers was scarce and services insufficient. That was of particular concern for vulnerable individuals, such as unaccompanied and separated children and single women. While national legislation stipulated that special consideration and priority should be given to the identification, assistance, and protection of those groups, that had been difficult in practice. NGOs managing the existing reception centres for asylum-seekers and unaccompanied children were underfunded and there was a real risk of services being discontinued.

UNHCR was also concerned by reports of border practices that might place refugees and migrants at greater risk. UNHCR continued to document accounts of informal returns, so-called “push-backs”, at the Greek-Turkish land and sea borders. Tightened control measures that had been in place since 2010 had resulted in decreased numbers of people trying to enter through the Greek–Turkish land border, while entries by sea had increased.

Integration prospects and related support for refugees were practically non-existent. Many were marginalised or excluded in the absence of concrete integration measures. In addition, refugees faced considerable difficulties with family unification, a right that was denied altogether to those provided with subsidiary protection. Finding accommodation was particularly difficult. There were no specific facilities for social housing or any alternative forms of support. Moreover, there was no targeted national strategy to promote employment of refugees, and, as a result, many faced destitution.

Protection and integration was further impeded by xenophobia and racist violence against migrants and refugees. For example, the Racist Violence Recording Network (RVRN), an umbrella network of civil society organizations supported by UNHCR, recorded 65 incidents in the first nine months of 2014, involving physical attacks in public places against migrants and refugees because of the colour of their skin and ethnicity. The actual number of incidents was likely to be much higher, as only a small fraction of them were reported. While the Greek authorities had adopted a series of reforms and actions to record, prosecute and prevent such crimes more effectively, people continued to be subject to verbal and physical abuse that remained unaddressed.

Mr. Spindler stressed that the UNHCR was ready to continue working with the Greek authorities to address those challenges and encourages EU Member states and institutions to continue to extend their support to Greece.

The Report “UNHCR Observations on the Current Situation of Asylum in Greece” could be found at the following link: http://www.refworld.org/docid/54cb3af34.html

On main nationalities of refugees, Mr. Spindler responded that about 60 per cent of those arriving were from Syria. There were also a significant number from Afghanistan, Somalia and Eritrea. Those were all countries that had experienced conflict, where there were serious human rights concerns. That was a change that the UNHCR had seen not only in Greece but in many Mediterranean countries in 2014.

With Greece being a middle-income country, UNHCR’s role there was not as engaged in major assistance as they would be in other countries. Therefore, the UNHCR was appealing to the European Union to take a more active role in Greece. UNHCR had noted more changes for the better in Greece and would like to acknowledge that, but much more still needs to be done.

Asked to explain how those refugees survived without aid, Mr. Spindler said that they were destitute and often had to resort to begging or they move onto other European countries.

Responding to a question on the Dublin Regulations, Mr. Spindler said that it was a regulation of the European Union that decided which country in the EU should process an asylum seeker’s claim. It should normally be the first country where an asylum-seeker landed or found himself. In the case of Greece, the UNHCR, because of the failures of the Greek asylum system, urged other EU States not to send asylum-seekers to Greece in line with the Dublin Regulations.

Sudanese refugees in South Sudan

Mr. Spindler stated that fighting in the war-torn Nuba Mountains in Sudan had led to an increase in the number of Sudanese refugees fleeing to South Sudan in the previous month, as reported by UNHCR teams on the ground.

Since 23 December 2014, more than 3,000 refugees from South Kordofan and Blue Nile States had arrived at Yida border town, a spontaneous settlement in South Sudan's Unity State already sheltering some 80,000 Sudanese refugees. With arrival rates exceeding 500 people per week, that represented an increase of more than 100 percent compared to the same period of 2013.

Refugees, mainly from Um Dorrein, Heiban and Delami Counties, had told the UNHCR that they had escaped ongoing conflict and widespread violence in Sudan's Nuba Mountains region, including aerial bombardments and ground attacks. Refugees had also cited the lack of livelihood opportunities and education in their areas of origin as reasons for leaving. The majority had arrived in trucks while others had come on foot. Nearly 70 percent of new arrivals were children, and an estimated 10 percent suffered from malnutrition and measles. Refugees reported that many more Sudanese were on their way to South Sudan, but the UNHCR was not in a position to confirm that information.

Mr. Spindler added that the UNHCR was undertaking biometric registration of new arrivals to ensure that refugees could be identified quickly and were able to access assistance. To date, more than 80 percent of new arrivals had been transported from Yida to Ajuong Thok, a camp established in March 2013 to ease overcrowding in the Yida settlement. The remaining 20 percent had decided to settle in Yida as they had family in the settlement.

With 18,000 Sudanese refugees already living in Ajoung Thok, the camp had almost reached its full capacity of 25,000 people. If the current rate of arrivals continued, more than 15,000 refugees might have arrived by June 2015 and the UNHCR was concerned that current funding might be inadequate to meet the needs of additional refugees, exceeding the original planning figure of 25,000. There was an urgent need to improve current infrastructure as well as education and shelter.

UNHCR appreciated the efforts of South Sudan in protecting refugees. Currently home to nearly 250,000 refugees, mostly from Sudan and more than 1.8 million internally displaced people, South Sudan had enacted a Refugee Act in 2012 and established a Commission for Refugee Affairs to coordinate the Government's response to refugees

Asked for further details, Mr. Spindler said that Human Rights Watch (HRW) had issued a written statement about the situation in the Nuba Mountains. HRW had more information on the situation, while the UNHCR reported what it heard from the refugees. The Government of Sudan was carrying out a wide military campaign, but there was no confirmed information on the exact perpetrators of the latest attacks. Some areas in South Sudan were comparatively safer than others, but safety was a relative term in such a context.

In response to a question, Ms. Momal-Vanian informed that the Secretary-General had issued a statement on Darfur the previous day, confirming that at least 36,000 civilians had been displaced in Darfur due to the ongoing hostilities.

IOM Social Media Campaign

Joel A. Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), informed that the IOM today launched a social campaign inviting people around the world to identify and tell the stories of Migrant Heroes.

In many countries xenophobia and negative perceptions of migrants were increasing. IOM believed that migrants contributed to society and felt that the negative lens through which many people viewed migration needed to be changed.

Mr. Millman said that the #MigrantHeroes social media campaign would highlight the many ways in which migrants contributed both to their countries of origin and their host communities. That would reinforce the IOM’s existing Contributions of Migrants information campaign (http://www.migrantscontribute.com/), countering misinformation by presenting evidence of success in accessible ways.

In 2015, IOM was looking forward to shining a spotlight on and celebrating the contribution that individual migrants were making. Anybody could join in telling their stories to the world through our #MigrantHeroes campaign.

More information was available at the #MigrantHeroes campaign site: http://www.iom.int/newsletters/issue66/index-ext.html

Human Rights Council

Rolando Gomez, for the Human Rights Council (HRC), informed that the Universal Period Review Working Group would conclude its two-week session in the afternoon after adopting its report for Guyana and Kuwait. With that final action, the Human Rights Council’s Working Group would have reviewed and adopted reports for another 14 countries during the second cycle of the UPR. As of this afternoon, the total of countries reviewed during the UPR second cycle would stand at 126, or two-thirds of all 193 UN members States to be subjected to the human rights review process.

Not counting the recommendations to be included in those reports to be adopted for Guyana and Kuwait in the afternoon, a total of nearly 2,300 recommendations had been made to States covering a wide range of human rights issues or an average of 190 for each of those States. Around one-third of those recommendations had been accepted by States at this stage. The key now would be to follow up to those recommendations to ensure that they would be implemented.

The 14 States reviewed in the current session would report back to the Human Rights Council at its June session to give their final positions on the recommendations which they had received. The next Universal Periodic Review session would take place from 4 to 15 May.

Mr. Gomez reminded that the Human Rights Council would hold its 28^th regular session from 2 to 27 March. The webpage for that session was up and running where a draft programme and some of the more than 100 reports to be presented were available. Closer to the start of the main session, Mr. Gomez would give a briefing on the details and practical information.

World Humanitarian Summit

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), informed that the regional consultation for the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit would take place in Budapest, Hungary on 3-4 February 2015.

Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos was scheduled to visit Budapest on 3 February to participate in the regional consultation ahead of the 2016 World Humanitarian Summit. The consultation in Budapest covered Europe, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

During the two-day event, representatives from national governments, regional organizations, humanitarian and development organizations, academia, civil society and the private sector would discuss how to reshape aid to improve the response to future humanitarian crises.

USG Amos was also scheduled to meet Government officials, representatives of regional bodies and humanitarian partners to discuss ways of strengthening capacities to meet current humanitarian challenges. The Emergency Relief Coordinator would be accompanied by Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Kyung-wha Kang, and OCHA Director Geneva, Rashid Khalikov.

The opening session of the consultation on the 3 February would be open to the press. The opening remarks and high-level panel on “Effective Humanitarian Action: Vision for a Future Agenda” would be live-streamed on 3 February from 8:45 until 10:35 CET on: http://www.worldhumanitariansummit.org/whs_eog/livestream .

Geneva activities

Ms. Momal-Vanian informed that the Conference on Disarmament would hold its next public session on 3 February.

The Committee on the Rights of the Child was closing its session this afternoon, while its concluding observations would be published on 4 February, when it would also hold a press conference.

The Committee on Enforced Disappearances would open its session on 2 February at Palais Wilson. During the session the Committee would review reports of Mexico, Armenia and Serbia.

Jean Rodriguez, for the Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), informed that on 4 February, the UNECE Executive Secretary would meet with Dr. Karbasian, Deputy Minister of Finance and Head of Customs of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Iran was a Contracting Party to 10 UNECE legal instruments in the field of international transport of merchandise par route (TIR), from 1968 till 2010.

On 3-4 February, there would be the 12^th meeting of the Group of Experts (GE) on Euro-Asian Transport Links, including representatives from the Chinese Ministry of Transport. It would continue considerations and identification of specific obstacles to overland transport and trade between the two regions. The GE would consider proposals to policymakers to ease and eliminate those obstacles. More information was available at: www.unece.org/trans/main/wp5/wp5_ge2_12.html.

On 4-5 February, Workshop on the UNECE Water Convention would take place in Beirut, Lebanon to consider key aspects and opportunities for Lebanon. It would discuss the importance of legal frameworks for trans-boundary water cooperation to promote the sustainable management of trans-boundary waters. In particular, it would aim to increase awareness and understanding of the Water Convention, its work as well as the possible benefits and added value for Lebanon to accede to it. The website was: www.unece.org/index.php?id=38153.

Melissa Begag, for the World Trade Organization (WTO), informed that the Director-General Azevedo would address leaders of Caterpillar Inc. at the 2015 Leadership Summit in Atlanta, USA, on 3 February. The following day he would meet with members of Americas Society and Council of the Americas (AS/COA) in New York. On 5 February, DG Azevedo would give the Gabriel Silver Memorial Lecture at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs in New York.

Ms. Begag also informed that the informal meeting of Trade and Development negotiations would take place on 2 February at 10 a.m. On 4 February, at 10 a.m, there would be a high-level meeting of the Council for Trade in Services.

Spokespersons for the International Labour Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund were also present, but did not brief.
The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://webtv.un.org