REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Corinne Momal-Vanian, the Director of the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was also attended by spokespersons of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration and the United Nations Secretariat for the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction.

Haiti

Elisabeth Byrs of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said after the passage of hurricane Tomas in Haiti, which has been less devastating than expected, efforts were focusing on an increased response to cholera. The risk of cholera was aggravated by the hurricane-caused floods and population displacement, but agencies stepped up their efforts to respond to the epidemic, with at least 14 centres for the treatment of cholera now being operational in the West, Artibonite and Centre departments. There had so far been 544 deaths and 8,138 hospitalizations caused by cholera according to the Haitian Government. Updates on the cholera situation were available on the website of the Haitian Government at www.mspp.gouv.ht. With regards to Hurricane Tomas, official figures said it had caused 21 deaths and made 6,610 people homeless. In addition, 48,235 people had to be evacuated, of which 24, 212 had sought refuge in 75 temporary shelters.

Ms. Byrs said the cholera response plan was currently being finalized and would probably be launched next week in order to mobilize additional contributions. It would be incorporated into the 2011 CAP to be launched on 30 November. More details were available in the note at the back of the room.

New refugees from Myanmar

Andrej Mahecic of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said UNHCR had mobilized quickly on Monday to come to the aid of more than 15,000 refugees who had fled into northern Thailand after fighting had broken out between ethnic Karen rebels and government troops in the Myawaddy area of eastern Myanmar the day after elections. At the request of Thai authorities, UNHCR was coordinating the efforts of non-governmental organizations and others to provide shelter, food and water to refugees in the town of Mae Sot.

Refugees had started pouring across the border early in the morning on foot and on inner tubes across the Moei River. Some had said they felt their lives were at risk after their houses had been attacked, while others said they had fled the sound of fighting. Many had collected their children from school and had fled to Thailand with only the clothes on their back, some even barefoot. At first only women and children had been crossing, but later in the day more men had arrived. Among the new arrivals were mothers with newborn babies as young as five days and 15 days, Mr. Mahecic said.

The new refugees had gathered at two locations on the Thai side, but by the end of the day yesterday, the International Organization for Migration and the Thai military had moved them to one site near Mae Sot airport. There had been indications it might be too small to hold the swelling numbers. UNHCR had emptied its warehouse in Mae Sot to provide 90 tents which Thai authorities and the refugees themselves had erected in the evening. Today, UNHCR plastic sheeting was being put up to provide more shelter. The Thailand Burma Border Consortium, which normally provides food and shelter to some 152,000 registered and unregistered refugees in the nine camps in Thailand along the Myanmar border, was providing food. French humanitarian organization Solidarités had worked overnight to build 50 latrines and install tanks for drinking water, and Thai border guards had provided medical help. Other non-governmental organizations involved in the relief efforts included Aide Médicale Internationale, International Rescue Committee, Jesuit Refugee Services and the Thai Catholic refugee-aid agency, all of which normally worked in the three camps for refugees from Myanmar near Mae Sot.

Local people had been pitching in as well, and UNHCR had asked that they co-ordinate their efforts in order to make sure that those who are most in need get helped first. One man had delivered 1,000 blankets to the new site, which UNHCR planned to distribute today to the most vulnerable. Staff from UNHCR's Mae Sot office were at the site again today to monitor the welfare of the new arrivals and find out more about their needs and why had they fled. UNHCR was working well with the Thai government and non-governmental organizations in coordinating services to the refugees. Meanwhile, in the Kanchanaburi province west of Bangkok, UNHCR staff were with Thai authorities at a school at Three Pagodas Pass to assess the needs of some 3,000 refugees who had crossed the border there late yesterday and early today. Kitty McKinsey, in Thailand, would be available later in the day on +668 1827 0280.

Jemini Pandya from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said IOM had yesterday deployed trucks and pickups to help thousands of people from the Thai side of the Moei river into a safe former military compound designated by the Thai authorities. All the refugees had come from the town of Miwaddy on the Myanmar side of the river. All the relief effort was coordinated by UNHCR with a great number of other organizations involved. IOM, for its part, had set up a small clinic close to the compound to treat the injured. It also offered to accommodate up to 300 of the most vulnerable refugees in its 2000-capacity refugee resettlement processing centre in Mae Sot, if the refugees were unable to return home in the immediate future.

IOM Relocates Refugees to Kenya

Ms. Pandya said a group of irregular migrants – a mix of Ethiopians and Somalis – who had been rescued over a month ago in the Gulf of Aden had been relocated to safety by IOM to a refugee camp in Kenya. The migrants had been en route to Yemen when their boat had developed mechanical problems, forcing them to drift at sea for eight days. After days without any food or water, some migrants were reported to have jumped from their boat to end their suffering. A United States naval ship on a routine patrol of the Gulf of Aden had responded to a distress sent by the migrants, but the rescue had taken a tragic turn when the migrants all rushed to one side of the boat to receive food aid, forcing the boat to capsize and killing many. Those rescued had said 38 migrants had died on the journey, most of them during that capsize event. The group of 62 rescued migrants - 53 Ethiopians and 9 Somalis, among them young 12 women and two unaccompanied minors – had been looked after by the United States Navy until last Friday when they had been taken to Mombasa. IOM had carried out a pre-departure medical assessment and provided the migrants with food before their journey to Kakuma. One migrant who had needed medical attention had also been accompanied by an IOM doctor. The migrants were now under UNHCR's care at Kakuma. UNHCR would assess the migrants to determine their eligibility for protection. Those not benefiting from refugee status would be referred to IOM for possible assisted voluntary return home, funding permitted.

World Bank report “Natural hazards and natural disasters”

Dizery Slim of the United Nations Secretariat for the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) announced the publication of a World Bank report entitled “Natural hazards and natural disasters”. The report, which dealt with the economics of disaster prevention, would be issued on 11 November and was jointly promoted by UNISDR and the World Bank. A press release would be issued tomorrow, ahead of the launch of the report in Washington D.C. Hard copies of an overview of the report could be shared with journalists along with the link to the report.

New report on impact of Economic Crisis on Migrants and Migration

Ms. Pandya said while the full effects of the economic crisis on migration may only become visible in the years to come, a new IOM report stated that the crisis had had a significant impact on migrants and migration in Europe. The report, "Migration and the Economic Crisis in the European Union: Implications for Policy" which had surveyed 27 European Union Member States, Croatia, Norway, Turkey, and seven commissioned country case studies, had found that overall immigration levels within the European Union had slowed since the onset of the crisis. However, migration rates still remained positive in 2009 for many of the major migrant-recruiting countries in the European Union. The study showed that there was still demand, especially for skilled migrant labours, in certain sectors such as health and education in many European Union countries.

The report also highlighted the increase in emigration from some European Union countries, but stressed that the impact of the crisis on migration was not uniform across all EU countries. This trend was most notable in countries that experienced large inflows of labour migrants in the pre-crisis period. Ireland, Spain and the UK all registered decreased net migration.

In general, the crisis affected the employment of migrant workers from non-European Union countries more than that of EU nationals, Ms. Pandya said. While unemployment rates for migrants from EU countries had increased by 2.8 percentage points between 2008 and 2009, those for non-EU migrants had increased by 5 per cent during the same period. This may be explained by the high prevalence of non-EU migrants in badly-hit sectors such as construction, retail and hospitality.

The report also noted that the irregular migrant population was likely to have increased as a result of the crisis, arguing that this was more a result of migrants overstaying their visa or work permits and moving into grey areas of the economy, and had less to do with an increase in irregular migration flows. The gender balance of migrants was also affected by the economic crisis. Women migrants were less affected by unemployment as they dominate sectors such as education, social and health care, which were less vulnerable to the economic recession. In some countries, the percentage of women migrants in the workforce had increased. Other impacts of the crisis included the decline of remittance outflows in some EU countries and the hardening of public opinions towards migrants in countries such as Ireland, Spain and the UK.

The IOM report recommended that national and European Union policies should factor in worker mobility in recovery plans if the region was to be economically competitive and that the region should also take into account both short and long-term demographic trends in economic planning. Europe was already experiencing labour shortages in many sectors due to an ageing population and low birth rates. An electronic version of the study could be downloaded from http://publications.iom.int/bookstore/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=41_7&products_id=611.

Geneva Activities

Corinne Momal-Vanian said the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights concluded its consideration of the report of Switzerland yesterday and would complete its review of the report of Sri Lanka tonight. The last report scheduled for consideration during this session was that of the Netherlands, to be examined tomorrow and Thursday morning.

The Committee against Torture, for its part, had concluded its review of the report of Ecuador yesterday and would tomorrow complete its examination of the report of Cambodia, the last report to be considered during this session.

Ms. Momal-Vanian reminded that a press conference would be held today at 11.30 a.m. in Room III on the embargoed launch of the World Health Organization’s Global Tuberculosis Control report 2010, entitled “Progress and Challenges in Halting the Tuberculosis Epidemic”. Speaking at the conference would notably be the Director of the World Health Organization’s Stop TB Department, Dr. Mario Raviglione.

Later today, at 12.30 p.m., also in Room III, The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation would also hold a press conference on the rollout of new vaccines against the leading cause of pneumonia, which was essential to meet the Millennium Development Goal on child mortality. The list of speakers had already been sent to the Geneva press corps.

Ms. Momal-Vanian said the library of UNOG, with support from the Geneva Environment Network, would host a conference tomorrow at 5 p.m. to mark the inauguration of the temporary exposition “Pollution/Petroleum”, to be held at the recently renovated League of Nations Museum. The conference included a speech by environment historian Anna-Katharina Wöbse, who would talk about the first attempts of environmental diplomacy which had taken place during the time of the League of Nations and their consequences. The conference would be followed by a discussion, a viewing of the exposition (from 6.30 p.m. onwards) and drinks. All members of the Geneva Press were invited.

On another note, Ms. Momal-Vanian said the press parking close to the exit C 23 would be closed this Friday, Saturday and Sunday due to activities to take place at the Palais des Nations this weekend. All vehicles must be removed from the parking by midnight on Thursday 11 November. The parking could be used again from Monday onwards.

UNCTAD Agenda

Catherine Sibut-Pinote of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) announced this afternoon’s publication of the 17th UNCTAD policy brief entitled “Seeking Order in Global Monetary Cooperation: The Door Opens for New Ideas”. UNCTAD welcomed the new initiatives taken for a global management and solution to the trade imbalance. For the first time since the end of the Bretton Woods system, proposals were being tabled to resolve unsustainable global trade imbalances through a multilateral solution. Without the financial and economic balance, developing countries could not be integrated into the global economic system, Ms. Sibut-Pinote underscored. More information would be sent to journalists this afternoon, and interviews with the authors of the policy brief could be organized for journalists.

Journalists had also received a press release yesterday on the opening of the 6th United Nations Conference on Competition Policy, Ms. Sibut-Pinote said. She added that today at 3 p.m. in Room XVIII would start the collegial and voluntary assessment of Armenia’s competition laws and policies in presence of the Minister of Economy of Armenia. Journalists were welcome to attend.