REGULAR PRESS BRIEFING BY THE INFORMATION SERVICE
Ahmad Fawzi, Director, a.i., United Nations Information Service in Geneva, chaired the briefing attended by spokespersons of the World Health Organization, the United Nations Refugee Agency, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Organization for Migration, the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the World Trade Organization.
UN Secretary-General
Mr. Fawzi said that the Secretary-General was in Nagoya, Japan today, where he was attending the outreach session of the G-7 Summit. Shortly after arriving in Nagoya, the Secretary-General had had a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of Viet Nam, with whom he had discussed Viet Nam’s support to UN Peacekeeping operations, including its preparations to enhance contributions, as well as human rights and regional issues.
Geneva activities
Committees
The Conference on Disarmament would hold its next public plenary in the morning on 31 May, at 10 a.m. This would be the first plenary under the presidency of Peru.
For this 2016 session, the CD presidency would then successively be assumed by Poland and the Republic of Korea. The second part of the 2016 session would last until 1 July. Then, the third and last part of the session would take place from 2 August to 16 September.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child would end this morning its review (begun on 26 May in the afternoon) of the report of Gabon under the Convention and would begin in the afternoon the review of the report submitted by this same country under the OPSC (Optional Protocol (to the Convention) on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography). The following week it would review Bulgaria and Luxembourg.
Press conferences and other announcements
Fadela Chaib, for the World Health Organization (WHO), announced a press conference in advance of World No Tobacco Day, on 30 May at 11 a.m. in Press Room 1. For this year's World No Tobacco Day on 31 May, WHO and the Secretariat of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control were calling on countries to get ready for plain (standardized) packaging of tobacco products. The speakers would be Dr Douglas Bettcher, Director, WHO Department for the Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases, and Benn McGrady, Technical Officer (Legal), WHO Department for the Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases.
Ms. Chaib also presented some highlights of the day at the 69th World Health Assembly. The agenda was very full and Committee A was running quite late. A press release summarizing the events of the day could be expected around 9 p.m. today. Work would continue on 28 May, the day of the closing of the WHA. A global press release would be sent after the closing, summarizing the main events of WHA 69. The closing speeches of the President of WHA 69 and of Director-General Dr Margaret Chan would also be distributed.
An important technical briefing in Room XII at 12.30 p.m. would focus on migration and health, and would include opening remarks by Dr Margaret Chan as well as an introduction to the session by Ambassador William Lacy Swing, Director-General of the International Organization for Migration. The Director of WHO’s Regional Office for Europe, Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, and Steven Corliss, Director, Division of Programme Support and Management, UNHCR, would also speak. Several countries would brief on their experiences with migrants’ health, among them Greece, Italy, Lebanon and Turkey.
In response to a question, Ms. Chaib said that much progress had been made on the framework of WHO’s engagement with non-State actors (such as industry, private sector, NGOs). It would be discussed on 27 May in Committee A and if there was a resolution, it would be adopted at the plenary on 28 May. The outcome would be briefly addressed in the closing press release.
On 26 May, there had been a discussion in committee between Dr Chan and Member States about the election process for the Director-General position. Dr Chan had proposed several ideas to Member States to increase transparency, such as being able to disclose the names of candidates (possible now, provided the country proposing the candidate agreed). In November, there would be an online forum between candidates and Member States, with Q&A time. There was a proposal to open the forum to the public. Before the end of WHA 69, there would be a discussion around those new ideas and a resolution would probably be adopted.
As for the current process: any country could submit one or more names to the Executive Board Chairperson. The applications would close on 22 September, and after that the Chairperson would make the names public.
Jessica Hermosa, for the World Trade Organization (WTO), spoke about the WTO’s Trade Dialogues series, the first leg of which would bring 40 business leaders to the WTO on 30 May. There would be a press conference on 30 May at 4 p.m. in Room D at the WTO with Director-General Roberto Azevêdo and three of the business leaders, to share the outcome of the discussions. The event was the first of a series of dialogues with stakeholders, facilitated by the WTO at the request of the B20 and International Chamber of Commerce.
In the week of 30 May, WTO members would be meeting on trade finance, import licensing, and the United Arab Emirates would be undergoing its trade policy review. Director-General Roberto Azevêdo would be meeting with Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansoori, Minister of Economy, United Arab Emirates. On 2 June he would take part in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Ministerial Council Meeting, in Paris, France, and in an informal gathering of Trade Ministers, hosted by Australia and Norway, in Paris.
Iraq
Melissa Fleming, for the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), said that UNHCR was delivering emergency relief supplies today to families who had managed to escape the besieged Iraqi city of Falluja over the last few days. Only about 800 people had managed to flee so far, mostly from outlying areas, as the government continued its military offensive to re-take control of the city. Falluja had been the first city to have been taken by ISIL in January 2014. Since then, more than 3.2 million people had been displaced across Iraq.
Some 50,000 civilians still remained trapped inside Falluja, prevented from escaping by ISIL as the city continued to come under heavy bombardment by Iraqi forces. In December, routes out of the city had been cut off and civilians had been prevented from leaving. Since then, food had been in short supply, people were relying on expired rice and dried dates, and several starvation-related deaths had been reported. Families had had to rely on unsafe water sources, including drainage water from irrigation canals. Health facilities and medications were not available in the area, leading some families to reportedly use herbal medicine for the purpose of treatment.
UNHCR and its partner, Muslim Aid, were distributing emergency relief items to families who had escaped Falluja and were sheltering in a UNHCR camp. The agency would also open two new camps the following week. The number of families who had managed to escape was still very small. Families had told UNHCR and its protection partners harrowing tales of their escape, travelling on foot for hours at night, moving across fields and hiding in disused irrigation pipes. Others had lost their lives trying to leave the city, including women and children, some of whom had been killed trying to escape.
Inside Falluja, there had been reports of a dramatic increase in the number of executions of men and older boys in Falluja refusing to fight on behalf of ISIL. Many people were reported to have been killed or buried alive under the rubble of their homes in the course of ongoing military operations.
It was vital that safe routes were opened, allowing civilians access to safety and life-saving assistance. UNHCR and its partners had already built extra shelters, hoping that more people would be able to get out. More details were available in the briefing note.
On a related topic, Ms. Fleming said that the past month had seen a spike in numbers of Iraqi refugees risking the dangerous crossing into Syria in a desperate bid to escape ISIL-held Mosul, the pending battle to retake it, and fighting in surrounding areas.
Since the beginning of May, a total of 4,266 refugees had arrived at the Al-Hol camp located 14 kilometres from the Iraqi border in Syria's north-eastern Hasakah Governorate. In anticipation of further arrivals in the coming weeks, the first of five UNHCR airlifts of emergency items such as tents and blankets had arrived from Jordan to Qamishli in the far north of Hasakah Governorate on Thursday. The total amount of aid arriving would be enough to provide support for up to 50,000 people, including refugees and the immediate host community.
Many of the recently arrived refugees reported having to engage smugglers to make the journey from Mosul, which typically took between two days and a week travelling through extremist-controlled territory to reach the Kurdish-controlled areas of Hasakah. More details were available in the briefing note.
In response to questions, Ms. Fleming said that there was no safe corridor to escape Falluja and that all the accounts she had mentioned came from people who had escaped and had given UNHCR and its partners information through focus groups, on what they had experienced in the last period living in Falluja, and how they had escaped. UNHCR was very concerned about the protection of civilians during the offensive on Falluja. Not letting the population leave was equivalent to using civilians as human shields. In response to another question, Ms. Fleming said that the increase in the number of executions in Falluja dated from the beginning of the offensive.
Ms. Fleming clarified that UNHCR was starting the series of airlifts into Hasakah in Syria in order to be able to serve the new refugee population of Iraqis in the Al-Hol camp. Hasakah could not be accessed through other parts of Syria so airlifts from Jordan were necessary. Airlift numbers would increase because of the new influx of Iraqis, and the anticipation of more to come. UNHCR had already been supplying Hasakah, where there were also many Syrian IDPs, in full knowledge of the Syrian Government. Ms. Fleming also clarified that the current deliveries had just started on 26 May. Ariane Rummery, for UNHCR, said that airplanes were leaving from Jordan and going to Qamishli. From there materials would be delivered by road to the camps. The population which was currently being targeted was of 4,000 people, but contingency planning was for a projected 50,000 fleeing from the Mosul area into Syria. More and more people could choose that route as there were few other options to flee. Ms. Fleming said that the safest, fastest, most efficient and most cost-effective options were always used for aid delivery. Ms. Rummery said that cross-border deliveries by land had also been used, but there had been disruptions due to security issues.
Greece
Ms. Fleming said that UNHCR was seriously concerned about sub-standard conditions at several sites in northern Greece where refugees and migrants had been evacuated over the course of the week from the makeshift site at Idomeni, and urged the Greek authorities, with the financial support provided by the European Union, to find better alternatives quickly. UNHCR agreed that the makeshift site at Idomeni on the Greek border, where refugees had been staying in abysmal conditions, needed to be evacuated, and noted that this had been completed without the use of force. However, the conditions of the some of the sites to which the refugees and migrants had been transferred fell well below minimum standards. UNHCR was in close contact with the Greek authorities and proposed that the improvements it had suggested for some of the sites envisaged could be made as a matter of priority. UNHCR would continue to assist the Greek authorities and where it was not possible to bring conditions up to minimal humanitarian standards, alternatives needed to be found. UNHCR renewed its call for the immediate identification and establishment of new sites commensurate with the needs, and in full compliance with basic humanitarian requirements.
More details were available in the briefing note.
In response to questions, Ms. Fleming said that the goal of the EU relocation programme had been to relocate 160,000 refugees who qualified, out of Greece and Italy. As of 20 May, 22 countries had made 7,720 places available, and a total of 1,581 asylum seekers had been relocated. As for the situation of the “hotspots” or detention centres, UNHCR was present in the facilities, was monitoring the situation and was increasing its assistance. UNHCR was actively working with local and national authorities on alternatives to detention and had had some success in identifying vulnerable people in the facilities to get them out of the detention centres and into open facilities. For those who remained, UNHCR was advising the authorities on how to improve treatment, and was considering providing aid while continuing to insist that detention was not the right option. Ms. Fleming reiterated that most of the refugees from Idomeni had been taken to facilities that were not fit for being inhabited. UNHCR was scrambling to improve conditions in the facilities, and advising the Government to move people away from the facilities that were completely inappropriate.
Mediterranean update
Joel Millman, for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said that Mediterranean migrant arrivals in 2016 would have surpassed 200,000 as of today. More than 10,000 people had been rescued just in the past four days between north Africa and Italy and they had not all come to shore yet. The total number was very close to that recorded at the same time in 2015.
In the past 24 hours there had been at least three incidents on the Mediterranean with fatalities. A child was born on one of those boats. The number of fatalities estimated at the moment was 1,475 through to May 26. The number would probably rise in the next few hours following the reports of a second shipwreck.
Through its displacement tracking matrix (DTM) in Niger, IOM had also recorded over 60,000 migrants passing through Agadez, Niger between February and April 2016, heading towards Libya and Algeria. In regards to a potential shift in routes from the eastern to the central Mediterranean, no shift had yet been observed, and migrants passing through Niger and going to Italy were mainly Nigerians and other sub-Saharan Africans. The average cost of migration through the Sahara was between USD 85 to USD 300. This relatively low cost could explain the robust traffic. Also, Horn of Africa migrants continued to head towards the Persian Gulf States in force. More details were available in the briefing notes.
In response to questions, Mr. Millman said that migrant deaths in the Sahara could be in the thousands over the past decade. However, there was no comprehensive data. There was an effort underway to have a team in central Libya focus on data collecting.
Inter-American Commission for Human Rights
Ravina Shamdasani, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that OHCHR was disturbed by the severe financial crisis that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights was facing. Should the Commission not receive the necessary funds in the coming weeks, the capacity of the regional human rights system to respond to victims of rights violations across the Americas may be seriously diminished. The pioneering work of the Inter-American Commission, as an agent of constitutional, legislative and policy reform, had had a strong impact on human rights in the region and beyond. Unfortunately, in recent years, the Commission had faced undue pressure from a number of States. OHCHR urged States to reaffirm their commitment to human rights by providing the Commission with the required resources to fulfil its crucial mandate and indeed to strengthen this key institution. The Commission’s robust defence of human rights in the region should be encouraged – not punished.
In response to a question, Ms. Shamdasani said States had been seeking to reform the commission and one suggested reform was that the Commission should not be able to receive funding from States outside the region. Now was the time to call on States to back up this reform by providing the necessary funds from the region itself.
Water crises in the Middle East
Jemini Pandya, for the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), said that Members of Parliament from the Middle East, including Israel and Palestine, would take part in a round-table event next week to seek solutions to the critical issue of Middle East water resources. The MPs would explore scientific and technological solutions to a range of complex questions including water scarcity, fair distribution, drought, and managing demand in the face of sudden surges caused by refugee flows. The event at IPU headquarters in Geneva from 31 May to 2 June aimed to produce a roadmap for a new co-operative project involving scientific research teams to deal with the water issue, as well as creating a space for science-led discussion and the exchange of expertise within the region.
The round-table meeting came at a time when there are no active peace talks involving Israel and Palestine. It was part of a series of events being organized by IPU through its Committee on Middle East Questions, to highlight the role of science and technology in fostering projects which help create an environment conducive to building peace. Delegations from Bahrein, Israel, Egypt, Libya, Palestine and UAE would attend the event. Experts from CERN and Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME) would also be present. More details were available in the briefing note. Future events in the series, looking at specific thematic issues, would include a focus on food. On 2 June, at 2.30 p.m. there would be a press briefing in Press Room 1 after the event.
In response to questions, Ms. Pandya said that the remit of the Middle East Committee had been extended in the past two years to cover the whole of the region, while having originally been focused on supporting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. She also clarified that the round table would be looking at the issue of water for the whole region. All the countries in the region had been invited and the six countries which Ms. Pandey mentioned were the ones who had decided to send delegates. At the end of the two and a half days, the hope was to agree on a roadmap for specific projects that all sides could engage on.
Lebanon
Members of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Committee to Promote Respect for International Humanitarian Law were to undertake a three-day mission to Lebanon to assess the Syrian refugee crisis there. The mission, starting on 30 May, would investigate the situation of Syrian refugees as well as their impact on Lebanon as a host country. The IPU team would be led by Committee President Samir Owais from Jordan and would include MPs from Europe and Africa. It would meet refugees, government officials and senior workers from humanitarian and other organisations, including UNHCR and the ICRC, to discuss the crisis and how best it might be alleviated with strengthened action from the global parliamentary community.