REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Michele Zaccheo, Chief, of the Radio and Television Section, United Nations Information Service, United Nations Office at Geneva, chaired the briefing, which was attended by the spokespersons for the Human Rights Council, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the International Organization for Migration, the World Food Programme, the World Health Organization, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the World Meteorological Organization.

Human Rights Council update

Rolando Gomez, for the Human Rights Council, said that on the morning of 22 September 2017, the Human Rights Council would consider a number of reports of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review. At 2 p.m. it would begin its general debate on human rights subsidiary bodies, to be followed, at 5.30 p.m., by a private meeting on the complaint procedure.

On 25 September, the Council would begin its general debate on items including the human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories, and racism and racial discrimination. It would also begin an interactive dialogue with the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent and hold a panel discussion on the impact of racial discrimination and human rights of women and girls.

On 26 and 27 September, the Council would hear a series of country reports, including one on the Central African Republic, in which the President, H.E. Mr. Faustin Archange Touadera, would participate.

On 28 and 29 September, the Council would consider all draft resolutions, of which there were a total of 31 thus far, covering a wide range of countries and themes; a few more draft resolutions were pending.

Referring to a recent press release, he said that Mr. Andrew Clapham, of the United Kingdom, had been appointed to serve as the new Commissioner of the Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan, established by the Human Rights Council in March 2016.

Responding to questions, Mr. Gomez, for the Human Rights Council, said that on Friday, 29 September, the appointments of a number of special procedure mandate holders would be announced. Such appointments were made by the President of the Council, on the recommendation of a consultative group made up of five ambassadors. The list of approved candidates would be announced in the coming days. One appointment was likely to remain pending until after the Council’s current session: that of the Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. He recalled that the current mandate-holder, Mr. Vitit Muntarbhorn, had recently announced that he would be stepping down for personal reasons.

Asked about the specific reasons for Mr. Muntarbhorn’s resignation, Mr. Gomez, for the Human Rights Council, said that he would find out whether Mr. Muntarbhorn’s letter informing the President of the Council was public. He added that while Mr. Muntarbhorn had indeed been the target of the controversy and threats that had ensued following the establishment of the mandate in 2016, those did not appear to be related to his decision to step down. It was important, moreover, to note that such threats were not exclusive to the mandate in question and were a very serious issue for special procedure mandate holders in general. Mr. Muntarbhorn had agreed to stay on until a new appointment was made, likely in the coming weeks.

Bangladesh

Andrej Mahecic, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that as the number of Rohingya refugees arriving in Bangladesh edged towards half a million, the UNHCR was stepping up delivery of live-saving aid to desperate people camped out near two official refugee camps in south-eastern Bangladesh.

At the request of Bangladeshi authorities, UNHCR was speeding up the distribution of plastic sheeting to get as many people as possible under at least minimal of protection from monsoon rains and winds. UNHCR site planners were on the scene to try to help organize a 2,000-acre site allocated to new arrivals by authorities. Known as the Kutupalong extension, the new site was next to Kutupalong camp, which housed Rohingya refugees who had arrived over several decades. It was managed by the Government and supported by UNHCR.

On Saturday UNHCR planned to begin distribution of kitchen sets, sleeping mats, solar lamps and other essential relief items to an initial 3,500 families who had been selected by community leaders. Refugee volunteers and contractors were helping newly arriving refugees moving into emergency shelter, but it was vital that UNHCR site planners had the opportunity to lay out the new Kutupalong extension in an orderly way to adequately provide for sanitation and to make sure structures were erected on higher ground not prone to flooding.

Many of the estimated 420,000 refugees who had arrived in Bangladesh over the last 3.5 weeks had been taken in by families inside two official camps, Kutupalong and Nayapara, or were living in schools and other public buildings converted into communal shelters.

It was a priority to get them – as well as many others in informal settlements – into Kutupalong extension, where UNHCR could support the Government and partners in protecting and assisting them. Once they moved, the schools could also re-open for education for locals and refugees.

UNCHR was working with the authorities to have an access road built to make it easier to deliver tents, sheeting and essential relief items directly to people where they already were.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Fillipo Grandi, would be in Bangladesh as of 23 September to get a first-hand grasp of the scale of the crisis, meet refugees, and see the continued ramping up of the UNHCR response to support Bangladesh.

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that on 20 September, the Director General of IOM, Mr. William Lacy Swing, and the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Ms. Sheikh Hasina, had met during the United Nations General Assembly in New York to discuss the situation in Bangladesh. The Prime Minister had reiterated her Government’s full support for the role of IOM in coordinating the response through the Intersector Coordination Group. Quoting the Director General of IOM following the meeting, he said that the needs in Bangladesh were enormous and that the Prime Minister, her Government and the people of Bangladesh had been greatly generous in their response to not only the current humanitarian emergency but going back generations as people had been crossing into the country from Myanmar for decades. The new land allocated by the Government to new arrivals would go a long way in fighting dangerous overcrowding, which made people, who had already gone through enough, vulnerable to disease, gender-based violence, mental strain and much more. The Prime Minister had advised all relevant ministries and agencies to work closely with the humanitarian community to help reach all Rohingyas with aid as quickly as possible. While IOM agreed with the figure of nearly half a million refugees having fled from Myanmar into Bangladesh since 25 August 2017, the total number of Rohingyas in Bangladesh was in fact 803,000, including the some 300,000 who had been hosted by Bangladesh over many decades already, and a further 74,000 who had arrived following the incident in October 2016.

Bettina Luescher, for the World Food Programme (WFP), said that in Bangladesh, as of 22 September 2017, WFP had reached at least 385,000 beneficiaries with either general food distributions of rice or high-energy biscuits. WFP was continuing to provide 25 kg rations of rice on a fortnightly basis and high-energy biscuits in new settlements and as people arrived. WFP had reached 6,200 pregnant and nursing women as of 20 September. Action against Hunger, in partnership with WFP, was continuing to provide hot meals, feeding over 50,000 people daily. It cost WFP less than USD 300 to feed a family of five for 6 months. WFP needed at least USD 20.8 million to support the new arrivals as well as people who were already living in camps near the border. The situation was dire and WFP was on the frontlines trying to reach people as quickly as possible.

Responding to questions about the potential for a public health disaster in the camps in Cox’s Bazar Mr. Millman, for IOM, said that IOM was aware of the enormous risks presented by the situation and was responding quickly, including through the massive vaccination campaign being conducted. Mr. Mahecic, for UNHCR, added that UNHCR had consistently raised health issues as a major concern in the current situation. Camps were bursting at the seams and there was a huge risk of disease. That was why the Kutupalong extension and adequate water and sanitation were so crucial. As to the call for safety zones, history had shown that such areas were seldom safe. Without international humanitarian safeguards in place and the consent of the Government and all parties, it would be difficult to guarantee civilian safety. Furthermore, any such arrangement must not infringe on the right of people to seek asylum or protection.

Fadela Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that WHO was very concerned about the health situation on the border between Myanmar and Bangladesh, given the very crowded settlements, most of them spontaneous. It had been challenging to roll out the emergency response, not least because of the difficult terrain and the very heavy rains, and the fact that the population in question was dispersed, mobile and often injured. The number one risk was related to water and sanitation, with poor conditions increasing the risk of vector- and water-borne diseases. Cholera, which was endemic in Bangladesh, could not be ruled out. Immunization rates among children was very low; when children were malnourished and exposed to the elements, the risk of childhood diseases such as measles were very high. That had been the reason for the recent immunization campaign recently conducted by WHO, together with other agencies, against polio and measles. WHO had dispatched 40 staff to Bangladesh, to be reinforced by 4 senior-level experts in information management, coordination, immunization, risk communication and epidemiology. They would help collect information on the health profile of new arrivals and would support the Government of Bangladesh in targeted health activities. Over the upcoming weekend, WHO would deploy a team of epidemiologists to support risk assessment for infectious diseases. WHO had also provided some 20,000 people with water purification tablets.

Mr. Mahecic, for UNHCR, said that the international community and the countries in the region, specifically, should focus efforts on the peace process and address the root causes that would ultimately resolve the violence so that people were no longer compelled to flee and could return to Myanmar in safety and dignity.

Asked about the High Commissioner’s upcoming schedule, Mr. Mahecic, for UNHCR, said that the High Commissioner would spend three to four days visiting the camps. He had no information on any plans for him to visit Myanmar.

Responding to a question about a recent reference by the Government of India to the Rohingya refugees as illegal migrants, Mr. Millman, for IOM, said that he did not agree with the phrase “illegal migrants” in any context. Illegal entry into a country was a legal concept, but neither migrants nor asylum-seekers could be said to be illegal. Mr. Mahecic, for UNHCR, added that a number of Rohingyas were listed as refugees with UNHCR in India and the Government was respecting that status.

Responding to questions about whether the number of new arrivals per day was slowing down, Mr. Millman, for IOM, said that the numbers had indeed tapered off from 20,000 earlier in the week to between 1,000 and 2,000 currently. The reasons for the slowdown were not clear, although the heavy rains and flooding might have played a role.

Asked a series of cholera-related questions, Ms. Chaib, for WHO, said that cholera was just one of many health concerns related to the lack of adequate water and sanitation. An initial WHO team had been sent to Bangladesh to conduct the polio and measles vaccination campaign, which had begun on 16 September 2017 and had initially been planned for 7 to 10 days, but had been extended owing to the poor weather conditions and the continuous influx of people.

Responding to a question about funding, Ms. Luescher, for WFP, said that of the USD 20.8 required in funding, WHO had thus far received USD 3.2 million from Denmark, USD 2 million from Australia, USD 1.4 million from Canada and USD 1.9 million from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund. Given the broad coverage of the situation in the media and at the United Nations General Assembly, it was hoped that additional funds would soon be pledged. Ms. Chaib, for WHO, added that WHO had requested USD 5 million for its response. Jens Laerke, for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), added that the preliminary, multi-agency response plan, launched in September 2017, had featured funding requirements of USD 77 million. As of now, some 28 million, or 37 per cent, had been received. He noted that those figures did not reflect bilateral aid being contributed directly to Bangladesh. Ms. Luescher, for WFP, drew attention to the recent announcement by the United States State Department of a contribution of USD 32 million in humanitarian aid to Rohingya Muslim refugees.

Yemen

Asked a question about the suspension of the cholera vaccination campaign in Yemen, Fadela Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that usually, the affected country sent a request for vaccines to WHO, which was forwarded to the International Coordinating Group on vaccine provision for cholera, which in turn made sure that there were sufficient doses of the vaccine for an emergency response. At the time of the discussions between the Government of Yemen and WHO, cholera had been widespread in the country and a vaccination campaign appeared difficult to implement; the Government had then decided the time was not right for conducting such a campaign.

World migrant deaths

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that IOM continued to investigate the shipwreck that had occurred off the Libyan coast; currently, some 90 to 100 people had been reported as missing. Approximately 140 people had been travelling in a dinghy, which had run out of a fuel and then capsized or begun to sink. It was still unclear whether one or two incidents were involved. That morning, the Libyan coast guard had indicated that the remains of six people had been found, along with some survivors, while the IOM Libya team had reported remains of seven people. The incident had occurred in the broader context of the news that, according to the Missing Migrants Project Survey, as of the previous week, world migrant deaths had topped 4,000 for the fourth straight year. The same number had been reached earlier in some years and later in others; it was therefore average. However, concerns remained high, especially in the Mediterranean, about conditions in the coming months. It was important to note that while IOM endeavoured to provide statistics in a timely manner, it was challenging because the data being compiled, especially that from remote locations, was itself not always sent in a timely manner. For example, the Regional Mixed Migration Secretariat on West and East African had recently reported 122 new deaths in sub-Saharan Africa, bringing the year’s total to 269 deaths, or four times that reported the previous year at the same time.

Asked about the incident on the Black Sea earlier that day, Mr. Millman, for IOM, said that he would follow up with interested correspondents with any information available.

Hurricane Maria

Sylvie Castonguay, for the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), said that Hurricane Maria was causing devastation the Caribbean. It was the thirteenth Atlantic storm of the season, the seventh hurricane and the fourth major hurricane following Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Jose. It was unprecedented in that it had hit more western Caribbean islands than any before. Hurricane Maria had traversed Dominica from south to north, leaving widespread devastation in its wake. In Puerto Rico, which the hurricane had also traversed from south to north, the most densely populated areas had remained in the eye of the storm the entire time, resulting in great devastation there, too.

James Douris, for WMO, said that Hurricane Maria was now north of the Dominican Republic and moving north-west. It continued to affect Puerto Rico, where there were flash flood warnings. The Dominican Republic was getting hit with high winds of tropical storm force and below. Currently, the largest impact was expected to be on Turks and Caicos, where a hurricane warning was in effect. The islands would be from the weaker, eastern side of the storm but would still be affected by storm surges and heavy rains. The storm would then move north to a position between Bermuda and the United States by Wednesday, after which its trajectory was difficult to predict. With the storm’s gradual lessening, people would be able to begin to recover.

Bettina Luescher, for the World Food Programme (WFP), said that WFP was preparing to distribute more emergency supplies, including high-energy biscuits on Turks and Caicos where a storm surge was resulting in heavy rainfall and flooding.

WFP was setting up bases in Dominica which had been badly battered by Hurricane Maria – there was severe damage to infrastructure and many roads were blocked. WFP and partners had carried out two assessment missions and plans were under way for the shipment and distribution of high-energy biscuits on the island.

WFP had sent food security, telecommunications and logistics experts to the various places affected by both Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria to help governments and local partners on the ground to scale up their response for the people, who were in absolutely desperate need. Once there was food available on the market, WFP would also provide cash and vouchers to buy food.

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that on 20 September, IOM had deployed its surge team to Dominica to conduct initial assessments on damage together with the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team (UNDAC) and other key humanitarian personnel, with the support of the United Nations Humanitarian Air Service. In Saint Martin, prior to the arrival of Hurricane Maria, IOM camp management experts had advised the Government to disseminate early messages to the public in support of the coordination efforts related to pre-positioning core relief items, including food and water, across all evacuation centres on the island. The centres could accommodate a total of 2,140 people; 10 centres had been pre-stocked with food and water with a capacity for sheltering 1,800 people. Those centres had been manned by volunteers from the Red Cross and K1 Britannia Foundation trained by IOM as well as Dutch marine personnel to provide security and logistics assistance.

There were also concerns about many irregular migrants, including from the Dominican Republic and Haiti, reported to have been living in Saint Martin, many of them in self-constructed huts. After the destruction by Hurricane Irma of those huts, the whereabouts of the migrants had been unknown. IOM was in discussion with the Red Cross and the emergency support function in charge of shelter to identify assistance tailored to the migrants’ needs, such as improved access to cash-based interventions.

Announcement of a press conference on new estimates relating to abortion

Fadela Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, 27 September, in Press Room I, WHO would give a press conference on its upcoming release, together with the Guttmacher Institute, of new estimates relating to abortion. The figures would be available, under embargo, to the press beforehand.

Geneva Events and Announcements

Michele Zaccheo, for the United Nations Information Service in Geneva, said that on the morning of Friday, 22 September 2017, the Committee on the Rights of the Child was considering the report of Vanuatu on the two Optional Protocols to the Convention. It would then consider the remaining reports of States parties before closing its seventy-sixth session on Friday, 29 September.

On the morning of Friday, 22 September 2017, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights would conclude its consideration of the report of Moldova. Consideration of the report of Mexico, initially scheduled for the week of 25 September, would be postponed to a future session.

At 11 a.m. on Monday, 25 September, in Press Room I, OHCHR would host, on behalf of the United Nations Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, a press conference on the situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine).

On Tuesday, 26 September, at the Delegates’ Restaurant, a press breakfast would be held in connection with United Nations Open Day, to be celebrated at the Palais des Nations on Saturday, 7 October. A number of high-profile personalities would attend, including Michael Møller, Director-General of the United Nations Office at General, Valentin Zellweger, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations Office at Geneva and other international organizations in Geneva, François Longchamp, President of the State Council, Republic and Canton of Geneva and Ivan Pictet, President, Fondation pour Genève; Alessandra Vellucci would be the moderator.

At 2.30 p.m. on Thursday, 28 September, in Press Room 1, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) would hold a press conference on the publication of the Information Economy Report 2017: Digitalization, Trade and Development.

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog220917