REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Ahmad Fawzi, Director a.i. of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was also attended by Spokespersons for the Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, International Organization for Migration, United Nations Refugee Agency and the World Health Organization.

United Nations activities

The United Nations Security Council in New York was expected today to take action on a draft resolution calling for the establishment of an investigate mechanism into the use of toxic chemical weapons in Syria, noted Mr. Fawzi.

The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had released a message for the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, on Sunday, 9 August 2015. Copies were available at the back of the room and online, Mr. Fawzi informed the press.

Geneva Activities

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was this morning considering the report of Niger, said Mr. Fawzi, and would meet in private this afternoon. Next week the Committee would consider the reports of Suriname, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the Czech Republic. The reports of Norway and the Netherlands would be reviewed the following week. A background press release was available here.

The Committee Against Torture this week concluded its consideration of the report of Switzerland and was meeting in private today. The session would close on Friday, 14 August, after which the Committee would publish its concluding recommendations for all reports reviewed during the session: Slovakia, Iraq and Switzerland. A background press release was available here.

The Conference on Disarmament would hold its next public plenary at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 11 August.

Tarik Jašareviæ, for the World Health Organization (WHO), announced that a virtual press conference would take place at 3 p.m. today (Friday 7 August 2015) on the outcomes of a week-long meeting which concluded today in Freetown, Sierra Leone, regarding survivors of Ebola. During the meeting a number of experts had discussed different aspects of support to survivors of Ebola, as well as future research and ‘bio-banking’. The dial-in numbers to the press conference had been circulated in a media advisory.

Libyan Political Dialogue

Ahmad Fawzi, Director a.i. of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, drew journalists’ attention to the announcement made Thursday by the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya and the Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), Bernardino Leon, that a new round of Libyan Political Dialogue talks would start at the Palais des Nations on Monday, 10 August. Mr. Fawzi told the press that Special Representative Leon was bringing a team of around 10 people, including a public information officer. This round of Libyan Political Dialogue was expected to last from Monday to Wednesday.

A press statement issued last night in English was now also available in Arabic, noted Mr. Fawzi.


Responding to questions, Mr. Fawzi said he could not yet say whether the Libyan Political Dialogue would consist of proximity talks or direct negotiations, nor provide the press with the names of the delegates or groups to be represented, but he would share information with journalists as soon as it was available. He would also inform the press about any media or audio-visual arrangements as soon as he had confirmation.

Yemen

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen, Johannes Van Der Klaauw, returned last night from a two-day mission to Sa'ada where he witnessed the severe destruction of civilian infrastructure in the city, including of markets, banks and schools. He also met with displaced communities as well as local authorities.

While on mission the Humanitarian Coordinator emphasised the importance of all parties protecting civilian lives and livelihoods; that civilian infrastructure must be spared from airstrikes and shelling, and at the same time must not be used for military purposes. A statement on Yemen would be published shortly, noted Mr. Laerke.

In response to a question about aid deliveries to Aden seaport, Mr. Laerke referred the press to the operational agencies that were actually sending in aid, such as the World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and others.

Mr. Fawzi noted that the World Food Programme (WFP) had a number of vessels scheduled to arrive not only in Hodeidah but also Al-Saleef and Aden. It was announced during the daily briefing in New York yesterday that WFP also had a vessel just off the port in Saleef waiting for its turn to berth, he noted.

Myanmar

Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said humanitarian workers and relief were reaching flood zones in Myanmar to assist people in need of life-saving aid. As of today, more than 387 metric tonnes of food for 103,000 people and 620,000 water treatment tablets had already been distributed as well as other relief items in a response focusing on food, shelter, protection, health, water and sanitation.

According to the Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement, as of 6 August more than 330,000 people had been affected, 88 people had died, and more than 217,000 acres of farmland had been destroyed. It was feared that those numbers would continue to rise.

While the weather had improved, water was now flowing south towards the Bago, Ayeyarwady and Yangon regions and there were concerns that river levels would hit critical peaks and cause further flooding in new areas.

There were more details in the briefing note published today, added Mr. Laerke.

Itayi Viriri, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said IOM had mobilized rapid response teams and funding to aid flood-hit communities in Myanmar. He said that IOM would shortly roll out the first round of its Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM). The DTM was an IOM information management tool used in crisis situations worldwide to gather information on the status and location of internally displaced people (IDPs). The tool then allowed national authorities and the international community to assess needs and target aid. Once it was done a report would be issued, noted Mr. Viriri. More information was available in the briefing note which could be found here.

Mediterranean Crisis

Itayi Viriri, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said the 373 survivors of the shipwreck that occurred off the Libyan coast on Wednesday were met and assisted by IOM staff upon their arrival in Palermo, Italy, yesterday.

The testimonies IOM was hearing emphasized the need to look at the issue of the criminal gangs who were putting migrants onto the vessels and endangering their lives.
Survivors told IOM that when the vessel got into distress after water started flooding the hold, some 250 people who had been forced to sit in the hold tried to get out onto the deck but their escape was blocked by the armed smugglers.

The latest maritime tragedy proved that, while laudable, the search and rescue operations at sea could not be the sole European Union response to this humanitarian disaster. Attention had to focus on how to tackle and stop the criminal gangs from operating, said Mr. Viriri. One example was how various nations came together to tackle the issue of piracy off East Africa, and the same approach could be used to stop the gangs.

More information was available in the briefing note which could be found here.

Journalists asked what happened to the armed smugglers after the ship sank, about their nationality, and whether there was any collusion between the smugglers and Government authorities. Mr. Viriri said normally the Italian authorities arrested the smugglers who then entered the Italian judicial process and were tried in courts. The smugglers were often Moroccan, Tunisian or other north African nationalities. IOM had no proof of such collusion but migrants did give testimonies that when they were held in Libya – often outside Tripoli - before boarding boats, militias were involved in policing them. IOM had no information about a possible collusion between the smugglers and Italian organized crime, but Mr. Viriri said he could share the contact details of IOM employees in Italy who may have had more information.

Refugees in Calais

Melissa Fleming, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that UNHCR was alarmed at the death toll in Calais and called for an urgent and comprehensive response. The rising death toll among refugees and migrants, at least 10 since the beginning of June, attempting to cross the Channel from the French port city of Calais to the United Kingdom was deeply alarming, said Ms. Fleming. The tragedies underscored the lengths to which desperate refugees and migrants were prepared to go to in their search for protection or a better life. The situation in Calais was neither new nor unmanageable, she emphasized.

There were an estimated 3,000 refugees and migrants in Calais and in the northern coast of France today – virtually the same number as last November. Many of those people were in need of international protection, they were refugees who had fled conflict, violence and persecution in Afghanistan, Eritrea, Somalia, Sudan and Syria.

UNHCR was reiterating its call made since the summer of 2014 for an urgent, comprehensive and sustainable response – first and foremost by the French authorities – to the worsening asylum crisis and reception conditions for refugees and migrants in Calais. Security measures alone, though understandable, were unlikely to be effective by themselves and would likely push people to take even greater risks, said Ms. Fleming. UNHCR remained deeply disturbed by appalling living and reception conditions in the makeshift sites around Calais and encouraged the French authorities to gradually relocate people from the current informal settlements and provide them, as is the case in most European countries, with adequate reception conditions in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region as well as in other locations.

There was more information in the briefing note, said Ms. Fleming, which could be found here.

Refugees in Greece and Calais

Prior to the official start of the regular press briefing, Vincent Cochetel, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), brief journalists about his recent mission to Greece to see the conditions in which refugees were living. He warned of a deepening refugee crisis in Greece and called for urgent and bold action. A summary could be found here.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog070815