REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service, United Nations Office at Geneva, chaired the briefing attended by the spokespersons for the International Organization for Migration, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Visit by the Secretary-General to hurricane-affected areas

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service, United Nations Office at Geneva, recalled that the Secretary-General had announced that he would travel to Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica on 7 October to survey the damage from the recent hurricanes. He would be visiting the operations taking place there and assessing what more the United Nations could do to help people recover.

Bangladesh

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that the number of arrivals in Cox’s Bazar since 25 August now stood at 515,000. It was estimated that refugees were still arriving from Myanmar at a rate of 2,000 per day.

The Bangladeshi Government had allocated a further 1,000 acres of land in addition to the 2,000 acres it had already made available on 14 September. Officials planned to use the vast site to accommodate all the Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar – both new and old arrivals – in one settlement. At close to 700,000 people, it would become the world’s largest refugee camp.

Aid agencies were warning of acute shortages of food, which could soon lead to widespread malnutrition. An estimated 218,000 people were already in need of urgent nutrition support, including 145,000 children under the age of 5 years and thousands of pregnant and lactating women.

IOM medical staff, who had carried out over 33,000 consultations since 25 August, had said that health care was also stretched to the limit, partly due to the lack of access to clean water and to the growing numbers of related diarrhoea cases. IOM had already delivered 310,000 litres of clean water to refugee sites, but that remained a drop in the ocean in the context of daily needs.

Earlier in the week an appeal had been launched for USD 120 million that constituted IOM’s portion of a worldwide appeal for USD 400 million.

Asked whether IOM was optimistic about the large camp that was being planned, Mr. Millman said that a camp of such a size was feasible. IOM would continue to encourage voluntary return where that was possible.

Tarik Jasarevic, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that 900,000 doses of the oral cholera vaccine were due to arrive in Cox’s Bazar on 7 October and the vaccination campaign would begin on 10 October. More than 200 teams of workers, some of them volunteers, would be targeting those over the age of 1 year – a total of approximately 650,000 people. Two weeks after the end of the first round of vaccinations, a second round would begin that would initially be aimed at children aged between 1 and 5 years and that might be extended to people over the age of 5 years at a later date. The Intersector Coordination Group had made the vaccines available within 24 hours of the request.

Administering oral cholera vaccines was not a substitute for cholera education and prevention measures and the pre-positioning of supplies. WHO was providing critical medicines and supplies to 20 mobile medical teams in the camps and to fixed medical facilities in the vicinity. The Bangladeshi Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which was leading the response, had set up health centres in the camps and settlements, deployed mobile medical teams and dispatched 24 additional doctors, nurses and midwives from its Dhaka division.

WHO had issued an appeal for USD 10.3 million to support critical health interventions in Cox’s Bazar.

Asked whether the cholera vaccines would also be administered to the local population in Cox’s Bazar, Mr. Jasarevic said the campaign will focus primarily on refugees, but will also include those who were already living in Cox’s bazar.

Andrej Mahecic, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that UNHCR was urgently seeking USD 83.7 million in additional funds for the next six months to help the more than half a million Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.

According to latest estimates, some 515,000 refugees had fled Myanmar since 25 August, including people who continued to arrive this week. Emergency assistance was focused on refugee protection, shelter, water and sanitation and bolstering the capacity of the local host communities across south-east Bangladesh. Relieving the dramatic overcrowding in the two existing camps of Kutupalong and Nyapara, which were now hosting twice the number of people that had been there prior to the latest crisis, was also a priority, not least as refugee numbers were still growing.

Among the refugees were large numbers of children, many of them unaccompanied or separated from their families. More than half of the new arrivals were women, including mothers with small children or infants. There were also many older people and people with disabilities. Illness, injuries and trauma as a result of extreme violence, torture and sexual abuse exacerbated their hardship. Many had lost family, relatives and friends. The new arrivals had joined an estimated 300,000 refugees who had already been in Bangladesh before the crisis.

In the light of the scope and speed of displacement, UNHCR had declared a Level 3 Emergency – the highest level – for this crisis in mid-September.

From the outset, UNHCR had been supporting the response managed by the Bangladeshi authorities and all partners to help organize the effective delivery of aid and services for refugees. In addition to protection, shelter and sanitation work in south-east Bangladesh, the Agency had so far organised five airlifts, flying in some 500 metric tonnes of aid. More flights were being planned. It had also doubled the number of its staff in Bangladesh to almost 100. It would continue to expand its work and operations, presence and staff throughout south-east Bangladesh as necessary.

The supplementary appeal was meant to meet urgent additional requirements from September 2017 through to February 2018. It was vital, even at this stage, that the response reflected medium- and long-term needs, while at the same time ensuring that the voluntary return of refugees in safety and dignity remained a viable option. The Agency was grateful for the prompt and generous initial response both from governments and private donors, who together had already contributed USD 24.1 million since the onset of the emergency, with a number of governments providing unearmarked funding.

While addressing the urgent and immediate refugee needs in Bangladesh, UNHCR was concerned about the continuing influx from Myanmar and stressed once again the need for the root causes to be addressed. Delivery and improving conditions remained its utmost priority.

Iraq – Internally displaced people in Hawija

Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that in the wake of the Iraqi Government’s announcement on 5 October that it had retaken the town of Hawija and its surrounding areas (which had been among ISIL’s final holdouts in central Iraq), IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix had reported that more than 33,000 people had been displaced since the launch of the offensive two weeks ago. Of those, more than 15,200 were still displaced, while about 17,700 had returned to their homes.

The latest wave of internally displaced persons came in addition to the 102,708 people that the Matrix had previously identified as displaced from Hawija between August 2016 and 20 September 2017 due to earlier military operations.

Across Iraq, more than 3.2 million Iraqis continued to be displaced due to the current crisis, which had begun in January 2014. Nearly half were living in private settings, while 24 per cent were in camps and 12 per cent were in informal settlements and religious buildings. The housing conditions of the remaining 14 per cent were unknown.

Plague in Madagascar

Tarik Jasarevic, for the World Health Organization (WHO), said that the Ministry of Health in Madagascar had so far reported 231 cases of plague, including 33 deaths.

Plague was curable if treatment was given early enough. In addition to detecting the disease at an early stage, it was also important to identify people who had been in contact with infected persons and provide them with prophylactic antibiotics to prevent them developing the disease.

WHO had this week provided 1.2 million antibiotics to Madagascar – enough to treat 5,000 people who had been infected with plague and protect 100,000 who might have been exposed to the disease. There was a critical shortage of disinfection materials and personal protective equipment to protect health workers and ensure safe burials.

Julie Hall, for the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), said that IFRC was working closely with WHO and the Malagasy Red Cross Society, which had mobilized more than 700 community volunteers to support the identification and swift treatment of cases. Money would be released from the Disaster Relief Emergency Fund and additional staff would be deployed.

While the Malagasy Red Cross Society had a great deal of experience in responding to plague outbreaks, the specificities of the current one, which was affecting urban as well as rural areas and involved more pneumonic cases than usual, meant that community engagement was especially critical.

Responding to questions from journalists, Mr. Jasarevic said that bubonic plague was transmitted from rats to humans by fleabites. If the disease went untreated, bacteria entering the lungs caused around 10 per cent of patients to develop pneumonic plague, which was transmitted between humans through coughing and sneezing. People should protect themselves against fleabites, should not touch dead animals, particularly rats, and should attend a health facility if they experienced any symptoms or had come into contact with an infected person. While plague outbreaks occurred regularly in Madagascar, this one was affecting areas where many people, including health-care workers, were not familiar with the disease.

Ms. Hall, for IFRC, added that it was vital to get the message across to communities that the disease could be treated but that it must be done quickly.

In response to further questions, Mr. Jasarevic said that recommendations for travelers could be found on the WHO website. Anybody traveling to Madagascar should stay informed of developments. It was vital that anybody who developed symptoms attended the nearest health facility. People should not take antibiotics unless advised to do so by a medical professional.

Situation of Anglophones in Cameroon

Rupert Colville, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that OHCHR shared the concern that had been voiced by the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres about the violence in south-west and north-west Cameroon on 1 October, amid demonstrations by people from the country’s Anglophone community.

According to government figures, at least 10 people had been killed on Sunday. Credible sources had indicated that some of those deaths had resulted from excessive use of force by the security forces. OHCHR called on the Government of Cameroon to establish prompt, effective, impartial and independent investigations to ensure accountability.

Cameroon’s Anglophone regions had seen multiple strikes and demonstrations over the past year as resentment and tensions had built at what English speakers saw as discrimination against them in favour of the majority French-speaking population. In response, the Government had deployed additional security and defence forces.

OHCHR urged the authorities to ensure that the security forces exercised restraint and minimized the use of force when policing demonstrations. People should be allowed to exercise their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, including through having uninterrupted access to the Internet.

OHCHR called on all people to pursue peaceful means to make themselves heard. Over the past few months, public and private property had been damaged and at least two home-made bombs were reported to have been planted in public places. There had also been arson attacks on a number of schools.

OHCHR urged the Government and Anglophone groups to engage in a meaningful and peaceful political dialogue so that the grievances of the Anglophone population, which dated back decades, could be fully addressed.

In that respect, OHCHR welcomed the comments made by President Paul Biya on 1 October in which he had condemned all forms of violence, irrespective of the perpetrators, and had called for dialogue as the only way to find a durable solution.

Nobel Peace Prize

Answering a question, Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service, United Nations Office at Geneva, said that the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons was a good omen for the future of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which had been adopted by 122 countries on 7 July 2017 and which had been supported by the Campaign. The Secretary-General would comment on the matter in due course.

Geneva Events and Announcements

Alessandra Vellucci, Director of the United Nations Information Service, United Nations Office at Geneva, said that as part of the Open Day to be held at the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) on 7 October, the Director-General of UNOG would be available for one-to-one interviews at approximately 10.30 a.m. by the Allée des Drapeaux roundabout.

Press Conferences

ILO Press Conference
Monday, 9 October at 10:00 a.m. in Press Room 1
https://unog.ch/80256EE600586F34/(httpEvents)/1C46DAF15371B5A9C12580C300488AD8?OpenDocument

WHO Press Conference
Monday, 9 October at 11:30 a.m. in Room III
https://unog.ch/80256EE600586F34/(httpEvents)/A284D97023790596C12581B000352E67?OpenDocument

United Nations (Mr. Miroslav Lajèák, President of the UN General Assembly)
Tuesday, 10 October at 12:00 p.m. in Room III
https://unog.ch/80256EE600586F34/(httpEvents)/D237BBEDC0C23A2EC12581AF0030A8B1?OpenDocument

The webcast for this briefing is available here: http://bit.ly/unog061017