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 for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the International Organization for Migration, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, World Health Organization, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and UNAIDS.

The Secretary-General

Mr. Fawzi said he wanted to lay to rest rumours that the Secretary-General would be going to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. He was not going to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea at the moment and any announcement to that effect would be made in New York by the Spokesperson or by the Secretary-General. To be clear about his whereabouts, the Secretary-General on Sunday would be in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where he would be taking part in the seventh ASEAN-United Nations summit. He would meet with leaders in the region, including the Malaysian Prime Minister. He would attend the signing of the 2015 Kuala Lumpur Declaration and the establishment of the ASEAN community and the Declaration on ASEAN 2015. He would be back in New York on Monday. On Thursday, the Secretary-General would be in in Malta where he was invited to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting and would participate in a Special Session on climate change. He would then go to Paris on 28 November to attend the opening days of COP 21.

Geneva Activities

Mr. Fawzi said journalists had heard about the appointment of Filippo Grandi as the next United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon welcomed today’s action by the General Assembly to elect Mr. Grandi of Italy as the next United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Mr. Grandi will succeed António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres of Portugal to whom the Secretary-General expressed his utmost gratitude for his tireless efforts and dedication in protecting refugees, displaced persons and Stateless people, and for bringing the plight of the most vulnerable, and their pursuit of a dignified existence, into the centre of the United Nations agenda. The Secretary-General’s statement had been circulated 48 hours ago and it was available.

Mr. Fawzi said Michael Møller, Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, also welcomed the appointment of Mr. Grandi as the next United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He warmly welcomed him into the international Geneva family. Mr. Grandi brought a wealth of experience to his new challenging functions, having served UNHCR in various capacities since 1988, including as head of various emergency operations. Mr. Grandi was most recently Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) from 2010 to 2014. Mr. Møller thanked Mr. Guterres for his extraordinary contribution to asylum seekers, refugees and internally displaced persons across the world and for his outstanding stewardship of UNHCR over the last 10 years. The statements of the Secretary-General and the Director-General were available and they would be in the briefing notes for the record.

Mr. Fawzi said the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women was closing its work this afternoon. The Committee had considered reports by 11 countries: Russian Federation, Portugal, Liberia, Slovenia, Lebanon, Uzbekistan, United Arab Emirates, Malawi, Madagascar, Timor-Leste, and Slovakia. A round up release would be issued this afternoon, but the concluding observations and recommendations of the Committee would only be available on the webpage of the Committee on Monday, 23 November.

The Committee against Torture started this morning its consideration of a report submitted by Jordan. The delegation would present its answers on Monday afternoon.
Jordan was the last country scheduled for this session, which concluded on Wednesday, 9 December. The Committee had also considered the reports of Liechtenstein, Azerbaijan, Austria, Denmark and China during the session.

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination would begin on Monday a three-week session to consider reports by six States parties: Holy See, Lithuania, Egypt, Slovenia, Mongolia and Turkey. A background release was issued yesterday.

Concerning press conferences, Mr. Fawzi said the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women press conference, which had been scheduled for 11:30 a.m., had been cancelled. On Monday, 23 November at 3:30 p.m., UNCTAD would be giving a press conference on “The Least Developed Countries Report 2015: Transforming Rural Economies”, which was under embargo until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 25 November. Speaking would be Mukhisa Kituyi, UNCTAD Secretary-General, and Taffere Tesfachew, Director, Division on Africa, Least Developed Countries and Special Programmes, UNCTAD.

Syria

Jens Laerke of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said today was Universal Children’s Day and on this occasion, Kevin Kennedy, the Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, had issued a statement, which was available at the back of the room. Mr. Kennedy said the crisis had had a heinous impact on Syria’s children with tens of thousands of children having been killed or maimed. He listed atrocities specifically affecting children, adding that the conflict was a living nightmare, robbing these children of their childhood and future. Mr. Kennedy called on all parties to the conflict to reach an immediate nation-wide ceasefire and on the international donor community to support initiatives to bring more children into school. Mr. Laerke said the statement would also be sent to journalists electronically.

Mr. Fawzi noted that on the occasion of Universal Children’s Day, the Director-General was right now welcoming 300 children in the Assembly Hall and giving prizes to those who won a drawing contest on peace.

Joint Statement on New Border Restrictions in the Balkans by IOM, UNHCR and UNICEF

Adrian Edwards for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said UNHCR, IOM and UNICEF had issued a joint statement on new border restrictions in the Balkans, in which they noted that in the last couple of days, they had witnessed Governments instituting a range of restrictions against movements of refugees and migrants from Greece through the Western Balkans and further northwards. This included people being profiled on the basis of nationality. This was becoming increasingly untenable from every point of view. These measures were creating tension at border crossings and a domino effect, leaving in total limbo refugees and migrants stranded at different border points. UNHCR and IOM had been working with governments to increase reception capacity in the affected countries and install protection against winter conditions.

Sarah Crowe for the United Nations Children’s Fund said today was Universal Children’s Day and in Europe, more than 200,000 children had risked their lives to seek refuge. These refugee and migrant children were amongst the worse off, and plummeting temperatures wold be adding to their vulnerability. Reading from the joint statement, she said UNICEF was supporting a number of initiatives in countries that they were passing through, including child friendly spaces in reception centres at border crossings along the Balkan routes, mobilizing for winter and working with governments to strengthen child protection systems for all children, including refugee and migrant children.

Mr. Edwards said that UNHCR, IOM and UNICEF remained concerned by a shortage of places to accommodate people along the route should the movement be slowed down and crowding result. There was an urgent need to put in place additional reception capacity at the points of entry, to allow for decent and effective accommodation, compliance with child protection standards, assistance, registration and screening of the thousands of people arriving every day, to identify those who were in need of protection, and for people who did not qualify for refugee protection, dignified return mechanisms had to be put in place.

Joel Millman of the International Organization for Migration said according to IOM’s Regional Director, Slovenia had started using selection criteria and others were following. He said IOM had three issues of concern with the criteria, first, there was no coordination on this selection criteria, second, there was fear that people waiting may try to pass by blocks put up by local police or chose using the Albania-Bulgaria option where the conditions were more onerous, and third, he predicted that smuggling would increase as would the use of fake Syrian documents.

Asked for an update on the situation on the Greek-former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the Serbian-former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia borders, Mr. Edwards said that at the Greek-former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia border, there had been some movement this morning but it was not clear whether all nationalities were being allowed through. Earlier, only Syrian, Afghan and Iraqi nationals had been passing through.

Responding to another question, Mr. Edwards said that on average, around 4,500 people were making this journey daily now, somewhat lower than the numbers in October. Accommodation at the borders was efficient for a few hours, but if people were being held at the borders, and with the plummeting weather, this became a problem and concern.

Asked about the position of the United States on the resettlement of refugees, Mr. Edwards said UNHCR had issued a statement on Wednesday on this issue. UNHCR wanted to see asylum continue to be the norm for people fleeing wars and atrocities.

Ms. Crowe said that last week, she had been at the Slovenia-Austria and Slovenia-Croatia border and there were large number of families who would stuck for hours in a no man’s land there leaving children at heightened risk when temperatures plummeted. They had put up tents now. She noted that the number of children was growing, and while in June it was one in 10 migrants and refugees was a child, while in October was one in three.

In response to another question, Ms. Crowe said UNICEF had issued a release on Universal Children’s Day today, noting that 14 million children were affected by the war and violence in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. In Europe, there were currently 214,000 children. Sweden had 24,000 unaccompanied children, mainly from Afghanistan.

Mr. Millman said that IOM in Athens reported that on Thursday, 4,500 migrants and refugees had arrived and were on their way to the border. From Monday to Thursday, they had counted 13,400 migrants and refugees crossing into Greece by sea.

Lebanon

Mr. Edwards said that nearly 90 per cent of the more than one million Syrian refugees in Lebanon were in deepening debt, according to the findings of a new survey by UNHCR, UNICEF and WFP. The survey was based on an assessment of more than 4,000 refugee households and over 100,000 family visits this year. The amount of money Syrian refugees owed to landlords, shop owners, friends and relatives had jumped by 22 per cent in 2015. Savings were exhausted, ability to find work was diminished, and humanitarian assistance had dwindled due to shortages of funds. UNHCR advocated for refugees to be allowed to support themselves where possible, while recognizing the need to avoid disruptions to local labour markets. Without better funding, humanitarian agencies were not able to increase aid, aggravating the now endemic debt trap faced by the overwhelming majority of refugees in the country. Lebanon’s appeal of $ 1.87 billion for 2015 was currently funded at only 45 per cent. The executive summary of the survey was available at http://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/admin/download.php?id=9816

Bhutan/Nepal

Mr. Edwards said that UNHCR welcomed news that 100,000 refugees from Bhutan had been resettled from Nepal’s camps to third countries in the last eight years. This was one of the largest and most successful programs of its kind, carried out in partnership with IOM and demonstrating that protracted refugee situations could be resolved through international solidarity. There were more details in the briefing notes.

Burundi

Christophe Boulierac of the United Nations Children’s Fund, introduced James Elder, UNICEF Regional Communication Officer in Nairobi, speaking on the phone, who was just back from a visit to Burundi. The situation in Burundi was deteriorating, especially for children.

James Elder, UNICEF Regional Communication Officer in Nairobi, speaking on the phone, said that the violence in Burundi had been dramatically escalating, with dozens killed. UNICEF was concerned that those most vulnerable, children, were suffering disproportionally. The proximity of the violence to the children was alarming: 17 children had been killed since the onset of the violence, schools had been hit by hand grenades and children had been arrested. Fifty per cent of the population of Burundi was under the age of 18 so whatever happened to them now determined the future of the entire country. Today, with the price of food rising and poverty increasing, a potential economic crisis may rise from the current political one. A number of donors had suspended aid to Burundi, which was heavily dependent on aid. Children made up half of the refugees in neighbouring countries. Some 400,000 people would require humanitarian support in Burundi in the coming months.

Universal Children’s Day
Mr. Boulierac of the United Nations Children’s Fund said that on the occasion of Universal Children’s Day, UNICEF had issued a report “For every child, a fair chance: The promise of equity, which presented a statistical picture of how the world’s most marginalized children had fared against basic human development indicators. He had sent journalists the report and would send the press release accompanying it shortly.

OHCHR/Democratic People’s Republic of Korea/China

Ravina Shamdasani of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said OHCHR was alarmed at reports that nine Democratic People’s Republic of Korea nationals, including a one-year-old infant and a teenager, had been arrested in Viet Nam last month and subsequently transferred to China. There were fears that they may be – or may already had been – repatriated to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, where they would be at risk of very serious human rights violations.

According to information they had received, the nine North Korean nationals, as well as another child who has a North Korean mother and Chinese father, were arrested in Viet Nam on 22 October 2015. Several days later, the group was reportedly sent to Dongxing, a Chinese town at the border with Viet Nam. On 17 November, the group allegedly arrived at Shenyang in China, close to the border with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The group of nine North Korean nationals had since reportedly been taken out of the city, while the other child was left behind. It was believed that the group was being escorted by the Chinese authorities. The current whereabouts of the nine individuals was unknown. This series of events strongly suggested that the group was at imminent risk of being repatriated to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – and they were gravely concerned that they may already had been returned. OHCHR urged the Chinese and Vietnamese authorities to publicly clarify the fate of the nine Democratic People’s Republic of Korea nationals and further urged all concerned governments to refrain from forcibly returning individuals who had fled the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Ms. Shamdasani said OHCHR was deeply concerned about the deportation of two Chinese activists – both of whom were recognised refugees – by the Thai authorities, and the risks associated with their being sent back to China. OHCHR had expressed its concern to the Government of Thailand about their deportation, which came just over four months after they voiced concern over the Government’s deportation of 109 ethnic Uighurs to China. The principle of non-refoulement, which prohibited the return of a refugee to a country where he or she was likely to face persecution or torture, was contained in Article 3 of the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment to which Thailand was a party. UNHCR said the two refugees who were deported had been due to depart for a third country where they were to be resettled along with their family. The reasons for the deportation remain unclear. OHCHR strongly urged the Thai Government to stop deporting individuals, including potential refugees and asylum seekers, to countries where there were substantial grounds to believe that they would face an imminent risk of grave human rights violations, including torture. OHCHR further urged the Government to put in place an effective system of review of all cases before deportation happened to ensure that there were no serious risks of torture or ill-treatment.

Ms. Shamdasani said further details were available in the briefing notes.

WHO/Central African Republic

Tarik Jasarevic of the World Health Organization reminded journalists that Bruce Aylward, Executive Director A.i. of outbreaks and health emergencies at WHO, would be briefing them on the situation of Ebola in West Africa at 11:30 a.m. today.

Mr. Jasarevic said the renewal of violence in the Central African Republic in the past couple of months had caused a significant burden on the health situation, which was already one of the worst in the world. For example, only 41 per cent of children had completed their vaccinations in 2014. In the past couple of years, there had been outbreaks of measles and rabies, and there was also a risk of malaria and cholera, especially as the rainy season was ongoing. Some 213 health facilities were not functioning, which represented 23 per cent of health facilities in the country. This was caused by the shortage of health professionals, damaged health facilities and the shortage of equipment and medicine. WHO was also facing a gap in financing its activities. The health sector had appealed for $ 63 million, of which only $ 23 million had been received (37 per cent), and WHO had appealed for $ 15 million, of which only $ 1.9 million had been received (12 per cent). Without closing these gaps, more than 400,000 people would have no access to health services. He would send journalists his briefing notes shortly and he would be going to the Central African Republic next week and would be happy to inform them further about the situation.

UNISDR/Report on Weather-Related Disasters 1995-2015

Brigitte Leoni of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction said that at 11 a.m. on Monday, 23 November, UNISDR would be giving a press conference to launch a new report “From COP1 to COP21: Weather-related disasters 1995-2015”. Speaking would be Margareta Wahlstrom, Head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), and Debarati Guha-Sapir, Professor, Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, Universite Catholique de Louvain, Belgium. The report would be under embargo until 11 a.m. on Monday, but it would be available to journalists beforehand.

UNAIDS/New Report

Sophie Barton-Knott of UNAIDS said that ahead of World AIDS Day 2015, UNAIDS was launching a new report detailing how countries could reach the 22 million people still being left behind in the response to HIV. In 2015, record numbers of people had access to antiretroviral therapy and the number of people newly infected and dying of AIDS-related illnesses had reduced since the peak of the epidemic. However, 22 million people still did not have access to treatment, most of whom did not know they had the virus. The Executive Director of UNAIDS, Michel Sidibe, would release the new report “Focus on location and population: on the fast –track to end AIDS by 2030” on Tuesday, 24 November, as a press conference at 11:30 a.m. in room III. The release would be available under embargo beforehand.