REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Marie Heuzé, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was also attended by Spokespersons for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the World Food Programme, the United Nations Refugee Agency and the World Meteorological Organization.

Humanitarian Situation in Gaza

Ms. Heuzé began by drawing attention to the adoption by the Security Council last night of resolution 1860 on the situation in Gaza, which had been agreed by 14 votes with one member abstaining – the United States. In a statement the Secretary-General welcomed the resolution, which called for an “immediate and durable ceasefire”, saying he was “heartened and relieved” by its adoption. Mr. Ban also explained at the end of his statement that the visit he would make to the region next week would focus on helping to ensure that the ceasefire was implemented, that urgent humanitarian assistance reached those in need and encouraging diplomatic efforts to put an end to this tragic crisis. The text of the Secretary-General’s statement following the adoption of the resolution was available in the Press Room.

On the same subject, Ms. Heuzé noted that in a half hour the Human Rights Council would open its special session on the grave violations of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the recent aggression of the occupied Gaza Strip.

Rolando Gomez of the Human Rights Council Branch of OHCHR noted that the Council’s special session would open with statements by the President of the Council, by the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the reading out of a statement prepared by the Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Richard Falk. He also informed journalists that the Foreign Minister of Palestine would not be here. As the text of a draft resolution was still not available this morning, R. Gomez said that he would share it with journalists as soon as it was tabled. He added that given the high number of speakers on the list, it would be highly probable that the session would resume on Monday.

Ms. Heuzé reminded journalists that those that wished to do so could follow the special session live via webcast. UNIS would also make available copies of statements from speakers as and when they became available.

Rupert Colville of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said that he had put at the back of the room a sort of generic “check list” of key acts that were absolutely prohibited under international human rights and humanitarian law during armed conflict.

Elena Mancusi Manteri of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said UNRWA welcomed the recent developments in the Security Council. Nonetheless the continued loss of civilian life in Gaza had to end and UNRWA called again for an immediate ceasefire. UNRWA hoped that the view would prevail that there could be no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that violence could only bear further violence and profound distress.

Medical and psychosocial teams had been active in most UNRWA emergency shelters to assist the victims and the traumatized population. However, the impact of the crisis was not only posing huge immediate humanitarian needs, but was also creating long-term effects on the human, social and infrastructure components of the Gaza Strip.

A press release would be issued shortly on the suspension of UNRWA operations, following increasingly hostile action against UNRWA premises and personnel. Ms. Mancusi Materi underlined, however, that UNRWA was not pulling out of Gaza. UNRWA’s Director of Operations in Gaza remained, as did his core international staff and the network of 9,000 local staff. Emergency shelters were open and continued to host people. There were still distribution centres where people could – if they could manage to get there – receive food. Suspension of operations related mainly therefore to the movement of vehicles and trucks from the crossing point into Gaza and all over the Gaza Strip.

It was important to understand that there was only one company in Gaza that was allowed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to enter and work in Kerem Shalom. UNRWA had to rely on that one company and did contract them to go and retrieve UNRWA goods from Kerem Shalom and other crossing points, as well as use their trucks to move UNRWA goods along the Strip to the various installations. Yesterday, that company was requested by the IDF to shift part of its equipment and trucks to the Erez checkpoint, which was normally meant for the passage of people. The assumption was that the Erez checkpoint would be turned into a partially commercial crossing point. On the way to that crossing point, along a route agreed and coordinated with the IDF, the trucks came under fire. The driver of one of the vehicles had been killed; another sustained severe injuries to the stomach; and a third was shot in the arm.

UNRWA therefore suspended operations with immediate effect, Ms. Mancusi Materi concluded. Of course the confidence that UNRWA could ensure a minimum of operational security to its staff and vehicles was not very high at the moment. UNRWA would resume operations once security could be guaranteed.

Responding to a question about how UNRWA would ever be able to trust Israeli security guarantees, which had been breached in the past, Ms. Mancusi Materi said that the journalist’s surmise was correct: UNRWA’s confidence in its ability to be able to ensure a minimum of security to its staff was “strongly hindered” at the moment. Talks were definitely ongoing in order to identify ways to possibly restore that confidence.

Answering questions on other such incidents, Ms. Mancusi Materi noted that there had been another incident that had affected UNRWA vehicles yesterday afternoon. UNRWA’s head mechanic of the Gaza Field Office had been killed in his home on Monday. The family had been evacuated on Wednesday, but the body could not be evacuated. UNRWA had some staff that tried to approach the house yesterday to evacuate the body, but they also had come under fire.

In response to a request by journalists covering stories from Geneva that there be an audio link with the briefing at Headquarters in New York, which had heard from UNRWA head John Ging yesterday, Ms. Heuzé recalled that John Ging had been due to brief journalists in Geneva via phone link yesterday, but at the last minute owing to the shooting previously mentioned, Chris Gunness had taken his place. At any rate, she explained that everyone was able to access the briefing in New York in real time via webcast computer on www.un.org/webcast, and then clicking on the button for the United Nations briefing in New York.

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that a note on the crisis was available at the back of the room. Also available were two documents on financing. The funding appeal had risen once again. It now stood at $530.3 million, while the amount of actually financing remained at $42 million, with a further $2.9 million in pledged funds.

Veronique Taveau of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said available was the statement by UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman regarding the humanitarian operation in Gaza in which she had expressed her deep concern that the ongoing violence had forced UNRWA to suspend its humanitarian operation in Gaza. “This can only deepen an already critical humanitarian situation and put children at even greater risk of death or permanent damage”, Ms. Veneman had stressed, saying that the physical and psychological damage that the conflict was inflicting on children on both sides had to end. Children were being killed and injured on a daily basis as a result of the current military operation. In the interim, Ms. Veneman called for safe spaces and unimpeded humanitarian access to be urgently established in Gaza to ensure that children had access to regular life-saving supplies and support.

Ms. Taveau noted that, despite the fact that UNICEF had material in Gaza, it was extremely concerned at the water and sanitation situation. Only half of the population in Gaza had access to drinking water and there was no longer electricity or fuel to ensure that the water could flow. UNICEF’s most serious concern, however, remained the fact that more and more children were being killed in the conflict. UNICEF hoped that the resolution adopted by the Security Council yesterday would have an effect so that UNICEF would be able finally to have access to children and to provide them with psychological and other assistance. UNICEF had had telephone contact with some children, and the audiotapes of their horrifying accounts of the situation they were living in were posted on the UNICEF website (www.unicef.org).

Responding to questions, Ms. Taveau clarified that UNICEF had national staff on the ground in Gaza. They had no international staff there. UNICEF had pre-positioned lots of material, equipment and supplies – the problem was, as UNRWA had underscored earlier – that because of the security situation they could not distribute those supplies, including water purification tablets.

Ms. Heuzé here insisted on clarifying: what they were speaking of was a temporary suspension of UNRWA operations and movements. No one was talking about the stopping of all operations of the United Nations and its agencies in Gaza. The personnel remained on the ground, and, where possible, they were working sometimes from their home.

Responding to a request for further clarifications on what activities had been temporarily suspended, Emilia Casella of the World Food Programme (WFP) noted that, despite the restrictions owing to a lack of trucks – as UNRWA had described – actual services were continuing. WFP was continuing with its distributions today. WFP had not suspended operations at all and it was hoped that soon they would be able to bring in new supplies.

Just before the briefing Ms. Casella had received a call to say that WFP Executive Director, Josette Sheeran, had arrived at the Rafah crossing at the border with Egypt, to get firsthand information and discuss the situation there.

As to whether there would be a three-hour truce by Israel, as there had been yesterday, to allow humanitarian assistance to continue, Ms. Casella said as of right now, neither she nor her colleagues had received confirmation yet of such a truce.

Responding to a question on supplies, Ms. Casella reported that WFP had 3,800 metric tons of food in its warehouses in Gaza, or half of what they normally would have, and they had access to only half of that stock. Under normal conditions, the 3,800 tons would feed 265,000 people through February. She also noted that whether or not people felt safe enough to come out and receive the food, it could of course last longer. Since 27 December, the beginning of the current hostilities, WFP had fed 60,000 people with regular rations, 15,000 people had received bread rations, WFP had provided food to hospitals for 6,000 persons and staff, and flour had been delivered to 30 bakeries.

As to how much hope the Security Council resolution gave the agencies that a ceasefire would be achieved and that they would be able to resume their activities, Ms. Heuzé said that the Security Council resolution spelled out the clear obligation on both parties to cease fighthing and to create the condition for the United Nations to resume urgently the delivery of humanitarian aid, food and medical supplies. Obviously, the United Nations hoped and expected that the provisions of the resolution 1860 would be implemented. Moreover, as said in his statement, the Secretary-General was travelling to the region next week precisely to ensure the resolution’s implementation in particular “that the urgent humanitarian assistance reaches those in need”.

On logistical questions, Ms. Byrs of OCHA said that they had received an update this morning from the logistical cluster: Erez was open today for passengers to cross, Kerem Shalom was open and Nahal Oz was closed.

Situation of Asylum-Seekers in Mediterranean and Gulf of Aden

Ron Redmond of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said that the Ministers of Interior of Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Malta were due to meet in Rome on Tuesday, 13 January, to discuss the problem of irregular migrants arriving by sea and that question might also be discussed at the informal meeting of European Union Justice and Home Affairs Ministers in Prague later that week. UNHCR appealed to EU Member States to ensure that people seeking asylum had access to territory and to fair procedures for examining their claims. During 2008, out of a total estimated figure of more than 67,000 people crossing to Europe by sea, some 38,000 persons had arrived in Italy and Malta alone, mostly after transiting through Libya. The vast majority applied for asylum, and more than half of those claiming asylum had been found to be in need of international protection. With few opportunities to enter the EU by regular means, thousands of people threatened by persecution and serious human rights violations in their home countries had no choice but to take the dangerous sea route. That highlighted the vital need to ensure that State agreements and measures to tighten borders did not block access to safety for those seeking protection in the EU.

Available data showed many boat arrivals were persons originating from Somalia and Eritrea. According to preliminary figures for 2008, about 75 per cent of those who arrived in Italy by sea had applied for asylum, and around 50 per cent of them had been granted refugee status or protection on other humanitarian grounds. Nearly all people who had arrived irregularly by sea in Malta had applied for asylum and some 60 per cent had been recognized as being in need of international protection. That showed that the Mediterranean Sea is indeed an "asylum route" for many people fleeing violence and persecution, Mr. Redmond concluded.

Another major route for people fleeing violence and persecution was across the Gulf of Aden from Somalia, Mr. Redmond noted. Final statistics for 2008 from UNHCR’s Yemen office showed that 50,091 people made the perilous voyage in smugglers' boats across the Gulf of Aden last year, and that at least 590 had drowned, while another 359 had been reported missing. That represented a 70 per cent increase in arrivals over the previous year's total of 29,500.

Responding to a journalist, Mr. Redmond said that, as far as he knew, those asylum-seekers arriving in Italy who had been judged to be in need of international protection had been accorded some form of protection. They had not been sent back.

Climate Change / Cold Snap in Europe

Gaëlle Sévenier of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said that the Secretary-General of WMO had issued a statement specifically to combat the hypothesis that the current very cold winter that Europe was suffering through was a sign that climate change was not a reality. In fact, taking global temperatures cumulatively, 2008 was likely to rank as the tenth warmest year on record since the beginning of the instrumental climate records in 1850, according to data compiled by WMO. The temporary cooling that they were experiencing right now was owing in part to the La Niña phenomenon, she said.