UN – Top News Stories

27 February 2017 – Increased border restrictions and lack of accessible legal ways to reach Europe have caused refugees and migrants to take more &#8220diversified and dangerous journeys,&#8221 such as relying on people-smugglers or using flimsy boats to cross rough seas, a new report by the United Nations refugee agency has revealed.

&#8220This report clearly shows that the lack of accessible and safe pathways leads refugees and migrants to take enormous risks while attempting to reach Europe, including those simply trying to join family members.&#8221 said Vincent Cochetel, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Director of Europe Bureau, in a news release announcing the report.

According to Desperate Journeys, issued today by UNHCR, the &#8220closure&#8221 of the Western Balkan route and the European Union (EU)-Turkey Statement in March 2016, caused a drastic decrease in the number of people reaching Greece via the Eastern Mediterranean route.

However since then, the Central Mediterranean route from North Africa to Italy become the primary entry point to Europe and arrival trends in Italy show that the primary nationalities who crossed to Greece had not switched in significant numbers to the Central Mediterranean route.

In addition to drowning, migrants and refugees also risk of being kidnapped, held against their will for several days, physical and sexual abuse, torture and extortion by smugglers and criminal gangs at several points along key routes.

The Central Mediterranean route

The UN agency pointed out that in 2016, some 181,436 arrived in Italy by sea in need of international protection, and also victims of trafficking and migrants seeking better lives. About 90 per cent of them travelled by boat from Libya, and the top two nationalities of those arriving were Nigerians (21 per cent) and Eritreans (11 per cent).

This route is particularly dangerous and, in 2016, recorded more deaths at sea than ever before.

RELATED: UN reports more than 300 migrant deaths on Mediterranean crossing in first two months of 2017

Furthermore, children making this journey are especially vulnerable, and the number of unaccompanied and separated children arriving is increasing. Last year more than 25,000 came, representing 14 per cent of all new arrivals in Italy.

&#8220Their number more than doubled compared to the previous year,&#8221 said UNHCR.

The Western and Eastern Mediterranean routes

The report also showed that in the last part of 2016, more people reached the continent through the Western Mediterranean route, either by crossing the sea to Spain from Morocco and Algeria, or by entering the Spanish enclaves of Melilla and Ceuta.

Similarly, people continued to leave Turkey along the Eastern Mediterranean route from April onwards, but in much smaller numbers. Most crossed the sea to Greece or Cyprus, others also crossed via land into the country or into Bulgaria.

Most who arrived by sea to Greece (87 per cent) came from the top ten refugee producing countries.

This was also the case for those who continued to move along the Western Balkans route: in Serbia, for instance, 82 per cent of those who arrived came from Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria and almost half are children &#8211 20 per cent of those unaccompanied.

These numbers, however, numbers have reduced since April 2016, noted UNHCR.

Additionally, according to the study, tens of thousands of people also have been reportedly pushed back by border authorities in Europe, including in Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Serbia, Spain, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, with many cases of alleged violence and abuses in an apparent attempt to deter further entry attempts.

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25 February 2017 – Deeply concerned about increased tensions in the vicinity of Guerguerat in the buffer strip in southern Western Sahara between the Moroccan berm and the Mauritanian border, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres today called on Morocco and Frente Polisario to &#8220take all necessary steps&#8221 to avoid escalation.

According to a statement issued by UN Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric, armed elements of both Morocco and Frente Polisario (Polisario Front) remain in close proximity to each other, a position they have been in since August 2016, monitored during daylight hours by the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).

&#8220The Secretary-General calls on both of the parties to exercise maximum restraint and take all necessary steps to avoid escalating tensions, be that through the actions of military or civilian actors,&#8221 the statement said, adding that Mr. Guterres also underlined that regular commercial traffic should not be obstructed and that no action should be taken, which may constitute a change to the status quo of the buffer strip.

Strongly urging the parties to unconditionally withdraw all armed elements from the buffer strip as soon as possible, to create an environment conducive to a resumption of the dialogue in the context of the political process led by the UN, the Spokesman said Mr. Guterres further called on the parties to adhere to their obligations under the ceasefire agreement and to respect both the letter and the spirit of it.

Western Sahara is located on the north-west coast of Africa bordered by Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria. The colonial administration of Western Sahara by Spain ended in 1976. Fighting later broke out between Morocco and the Polisario Front. A ceasefire was signed in September 1991. MINURSO was deployed that year to monitor the ceasefire between the Government of Morocco and the Polisario Front and organizing, if the parties agree, a referendum on self-determination in Western Sahara.

A revised settlement plan was proposed by the United Nations after seven years of diplomatic consultations was rejected by one of the parties in 2004. In approving the current phase of direct negotiations in 2007, the UN Security Council called for &#8220a just, lasting and mutually acceptable political settlement which will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara.&#8221

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25 February 2017 – The United Nations Security Council has strongly condemned the recent spate of violence in the south-central Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), calling on the Government to &#8220immediately dispatch a credible and impartial investigation.&#8221

In a press statement issued in New York yesterday evening, the Council expressed grave concern at the recent reports of serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by local militia in that region, including unlawful recruitment and use of child soldiers, and of killings of civilians by members of Congolese security forces, known as FARDC, &#8220all of which might constitute war crimes under international law.&#8221

Recalling that the DRC Government bears the primary responsibility to protect civilians within its territory, the Security Council urged the authorities to &#8220constantly exercise maximum restraint and proportionate lawful use of force in its efforts to restore order.&#8221

The Council also called on the Government to immediately dispatch an investigation and to bring to justice and hold accountable all those responsible. Welcoming the Government’s announcement in this regard, the Council encouraged the UN Stabilization Mission in the country, known by its French acronym MONUSCO, &#8220to provide support to the Congolese authorities, if requested, in the conduct of this investigation, developments in which they will follow very closely.&#8221

MONUSCO was further urged to monitor and report on violations and abuses of international human rights law and violations of international humanitarian law and to update its contingency plans in this regard. In the longer-term, the Security Council encouraged the DRC Government to continue its efforts for the extension of State authority throughout the vast central African nation, ensuring credible governance with capable institutions, especially in the security sector, to prevent and deter violence.

RELATED: UN mission in DR Congo strongly condemns persistent violence in Kasai Provinces

As for the political situation in the country, the Security Council reaffirmed its strong support for the 31 December 2016 political agreement, &#8220and its pursuit of peaceful, credible, free, fair and inclusive elections by December 2017, leading to a democratic transfer of power.&#8221

In this context, the 15-nation body said it is &#8220increasingly concerned&#8221 at the continuing lack of progress in the dialogue among the political stakeholders in DRC related to implementation modalities of the agreement. The Council expressed concern that, two months after the signing of the agreement, the appointment of a Prime Minister presented by the Rassemblement coalition, as well as the installation of a new transitional government and of the Comité National de Suivi de l’Accord (CNSA) have yet to take place.

As such, the Council stressed the need to maintain the political goodwill that led to the signing of the agreement in order to avoid further insecurity in the DRC. Further, the Council called on all stakeholders in the DRC, including President Joseph Kabila, the presidential majority and the opposition, to redouble, in good faith, their efforts towards a speedy conclusion of the ongoing talks on the &#8220arrangements particuliers&#8221 of the agreement, in order to urgently nominate a Prime Minister presented by the Rassemblement.

The Security Council reaffirmed the need for all parties to support and participate constructively in the mediation led by the Conférence épiscopale nationale du Congo (CENCO), and recalled that full and timely implementation of the 31 December agreement, in accordance with the Congolese Constitution and in line with Council resolution 2277 (2016), is critical in upholding the legitimacy of the transitional institutions until elections.

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24 February 2017 – As details on the destruction of and damage to Iraq’s rich and diverse cultural heritage emerge, the United Nations cultural agency has appealed to the international community to help protect and revive the country’s archaeological, religious and cultural sites for future generations.

“This is a turning point for the Iraqi people and for the world’s understanding of the role of heritage for societies in conflict situations,” said the Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova.

Speaking at the end of a two-day meeting of the International Coordination Conference on the Safeguarding of Cultural Heritage in Liberated Areas of Iraq, Ms. Bokova added: “UNESCO is already mobilizing on the ground to support Iraq in protecting heritage and objects most at risk, and to fence off and guard sites.”

The meeting also prepared the groundwork for emergency, medium and long term action plans to preserve the country’s millennial archaeological sites, museums, religious heritage, and historic cities.

It also agreed to appoint a joint UNESCO-Iraqi Steering Committee to coordinate and advocate the many national and international initiatives to rehabilitate the cultural heritage of Iraq.

However, according to UNESCO the damage already done has been much fear than what was anticipated and the rehabilitation process is likely to require decades of work.

Noting the importance of action to safeguard Iraq’s heritage, the country’s Minister of Culture Fryad Rawandouzi highlighted: “As we reclaim our country […] We need help from UNESCO, the UN and others to rehabilitate museums, cities and sites […] We need a plan with a timeline, as well as technical and financial support.”

At the same time, there are fears that antiquities taken away from heritage sites may have been sold on the Internet and the black market and the money used finance activities of the terrorist group Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL/Da’esh).

“We must stop the trade in Iraqi antiquities, adhere to Security Council Resolution 2199, and dry up [ISIL]’s money flow,” underscored Mohammad Iqbal Omar, the Iraqi Minister of Education.

Adopted in 2015, UN Security Council resolution 2199, among other provisions, banned all trade in looted antiquities from Iraq and Syria. It also encouraged steps to ensure such items are returned to their homelands, and called on UNESCO, Interpol, and other international organizations to assist in such efforts.

“Da’esh tried, but will never erase our culture, identity, diversity, history and the pillars of civilization. I call on the world to help us,” said added the Minister of Education.

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