REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Michele Zaccheo, Chief, Radio and Television Section, United Nations Information Service, United Nations Office at Geneva, chaired the briefing attended by the spokespersons for the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration and the International Labour Organization.

Secretary-General

Mr. Zaccheo said that the Secretary-General had issued a video statement to mark the International Day against Nuclear Tests on 29 August, in which he said that it was important to remember the threat that nuclear tests represent to the environment and global stability. The Secretary-General noted in his message, among other things, that more than 2,000 such tests had been conducted in the past seven decades, harming people and ecosystems. He urged action on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and pointed to recent actions by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to underline its importance.

In connection with this, Mr. Zaccheo reminded correspondents that an emergency meeting of the Security Council in New York was scheduled later on 29 August to discuss a recent test by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, in which missiles had flown over Japan.

Tropical Storm Harvey

Clare Nullis, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said that the effects of Tropical Storm Harvey represented “a nightmare scenario” that would continue for the next few days. The area affected was roughly the size of Spain. According to the US National Hurricane Center, “catastrophic and life-threatening” flooding continued in south-eastern in Texas and parts of Louisiana due to unprecedented rainfall. Additional heavy rainfall was expected to fall in the current hours, which would worsen the situation both in Texas and Louisiana.

Ms. Nullis said that a large part of south-east Texas had seen more than 50 centimeters of rain since last Friday. Rainfall totals in isolated areas, including parts of Houston, may approach 1.2 meters. The National Hurricane Center said on 28 August that Houston received an “unfathomable” amount of rainfall the day before. Harvey had caused so much rainfall that the National Weather Service had had to update the colour charts on its graphics in order to effectively map it, Ms. Nullis said, introducing a new colour category for rainfall totals above 30 inches or 76 centimetres.

Ms. Nullis said rivers were rising and they would continue to rise, so the disaster was far from over. Although the storm was no longer classified as a hurricane, it was proving to be unusually slow moving and the impact of the rainfall it created was even greater. The storm was expected to move upwards today to the middle and upper coast of Texas and then would weaken as it moved inland, over Tennessee. Wind speeds were expected to weaken but the potential for heavy rainfall remained and was serious.

In answer to a question on whether Harvey was caused by climate change, Ms. Nullis emphasized that there were multiple factors at play. The relationship between climate change and the frequency of hurricanes or tropical cyclones remained unclear and more research was needed. She said that because climate change existed, the atmosphere was warmer and contained more moisture, meaning that when a hurricane or tropical cyclone occurred, climate change very likely increased the associated rainfall.

Ms. Nullis also said that Harvey had hit a very built-up area and that urban development may have been an aggravating factor. The priority for now was to save people’s lives and get them out of harm’s way. She added that there had been a lot of progress on the meteorological front since Hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans, in terms of warnings, alerts, evacuations and forecasts issued by the National Hurricane Center.

In answering a question on whether government policies had had an effect on the outcome of Harvey, Ms. Nullis said that it had been as a result of a combination of factors and the WMO was not able to comment on the whole range of them.

Myanmar

Adrian Edwards for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that in the light of the dramatic worsening of the situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, the UNHCR had communicated to the Government of Bangladesh its readiness to support Bangladesh in helping refugees fleeing across the border.

There were unverified estimates of some 5,200 people entering Bangladesh from Myanmar since 24 August. Several thousand were reported to be in locations on the Myanmar side of the border. Mr. Edwards underscored the United Nations Secretary-General’s statement of 28 August condemning the violence in Rakhine State.

On the Bangladesh side of the border some people were in cordoned off areas near the border, and others are mainly in the Kutupalong area, Mr. Edwards said. Most were women, children, or the elderly, and there had been reports of wounded people among them.

Aid efforts involving the Bangladeshi authorities, local communities, United Nations Refugee Agency partners and non-governmental organizations were underway. Mr. Edwards said that the UNHCR thanked the Bangladeshi authorities for its support but concerns remained that the number of people needing help could rise in coming days.

Bangladesh had hosted refugees from Myanmar for decades, Mr. Edwards said, and it was important that it continued to allow Rohingya people to flee violence and seek safety there. Mr. Edwards called on the international community to support Bangladesh with aid and other help. The security situation in Myanmar meant that access to populations in need of help was severely restricted.

In answer to a correspondent’s question Mr. Edwards said that the UNHCR did not have access to the people on the Myanmar side, but it was in touch with the Bangladeshi authorities. The agency would not comment on reports that non-governmental organizations are responsible for “terrorism”, claims that had been backed by the Myanmar government.

Mr. Zaccheo added that the Secretary-General had issued a statement calling for free and unfettered access to the conflict areas by humanitarian workers. In the statement, the Secretary-General had mentioned the responsibility of the Government of Myanmar to provide security and assistance to those in need, as well as recognising the generous role that Bangladesh had played in hosting refugees.

Mediterranean

Leonard Doyle for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that the Missing Migrants Project, which tracks deaths in the Mediterranean, had counted no deaths in the last 20 days. This situation reflected declining numbers of migrants arriving in Italy. There was, however, a small rise in numbers of arrivals in Spain. For 2017, deaths in the Mediterranean totalled 2,410 people as of 27 August. There were 19 deaths recorded in all of August, which was a sharp drop on the 689 recorded in August 2015 and on the 62 recorded in August 2016, and none had been recorded in the past 20 days.

Mr. Doyle said that this information came on the back of a migration conference that had taken place in Paris on 28 August. At this conference some progress had been made to ensure that there would be proper protection for migrants and refugees, as well as efforts to make sure that people smugglers could not extort them.

In answering a question on whether ideas expressed by President Emmanuel Macron at the Paris conference were encouraged by the IOM, Mr. Doyle said that three African countries and several European countries were present at the conference, so those ideas were widely supported. He said the IOM generally welcomed the broad approach insofar as it did not restrict intra-African migration and visa-free movement in such entities as the Economic Community of West African States. As long as vulnerable peoples’ rights were protected, the efforts of the conference were to be applauded, Mr. Doyle said.

Asked if the IOM would have an active role in repatriating economic migrants, Mr. Doyle said that the IOM was already working with the migrants and giving protection to victims of trafficking. Some migrants had been lured into going to Libya by falsehoods they had read on social media, and many had decided to return home. The IOM provided a system known as Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration in which migrants got a small grant that enabled them to return to their countries of origin and work, and this program was expected to continue.

Asked for a clarification on the numbers of deaths of migrants, Mr. Doyle said that the zero deaths number only concerned the Mediterranean Sea. Typically, arrivals and deaths should be the highest in August, and many factors could explain this exceptional decline. The flows from Libya had diminished sharply compared to July. There was also a decline in the migrant flows coming from Niger, but not enough to explain why the global flow through the Mediterranean had gone down.

However, Mr Doyle said, this did not mean the problem was solved because migrants were being held in appalling conditions by people smugglers in Libya and push factors such as conflict and economic hardship had not abated. The IOM called on social media companies to be more responsible in allowing people smugglers to use encrypted means to lure potential migrants or send videos of them being tortured to extort money from their families.

Geneva Activities and Announcements

Hans Von Rohland speaking for the International Labour Organization said the ILO was attending the World Congress on Occupational Safety and Health in Singapore on 3-6 September where it would present new numbers on professional accidents and diseases as well as their cost for the economy.

Michele Zaccheo, Chief, Radio and Television Section, United Nations Information Service, United Nations Office at Geneva, said that the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights would brief journalists in Press Room III on 30 August at 11 a.m. on human rights abuses in the context of protests earlier this year in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. The High Commissioner would join the briefing at 11.30 a.m.

Also on 30 August, the Special Envoy to Syria would brief the Security Council in New York at 4 p.m. Geneva time.

Mr. Zaccheo also announced that on 31 August, at 10 a.m., there would be a press conference by the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) on the launch of the Cluster Munition Monitor 2017 Report. Speaking would be the UNIDIR Director Jarmo Sareva, as well as representatives of non-governmental organizations and other partners.

Also on 31 August, at 12.30 p.m. in Press Room I, representatives of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities would give remarks on the conclusion of its most recent session concerning the following countries: Latvia, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Morocco, Panama and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

On 5 September at 3 p.m. in Press Room III, the new Head of the International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism on international crimes committed in Syria, Ms. Catherine Marchi-Uhel, would be giving a press conference.

Mr. Zaccheo said that the Conference on Disarmament would be holding four public meetings this week on the mornings and afternoons of 29 August and 31 August.
He also reminded correspondents that 1 September was a United Nations holiday.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog290817