INTER-AGENCY STANDING COMMITTEE ISSUES STATEMENT ON REFUGEES, HUMAN RIGHTS, HUMANITARIAN LAW AND PRINCIPLES IN GREAT LAKES REGION
Press Release
AFR/15
IHA/634
INTER-AGENCY STANDING COMMITTEE ISSUES STATEMENT ON REFUGEES, HUMAN RIGHTS, HUMANITARIAN LAW AND PRINCIPLES IN GREAT LAKES REGION
19970912 NEW YORK, 12 September (DHA) -- Following is a statement on the situation in the Great Lakes region issued today by the Inter-Agency Standing Committee chaired by the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator. The Committee comprises United Nations agency heads of the World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Health Organization (WHO), and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), as well as representatives of the International Organization for Migration, the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response, InterAction, and the International Council of Voluntary Agencies."The Inter-Agency Standing Committee is gravely concerned over the erosion of respect for humanitarian principles and human rights which increasingly affects humanitarian operations in the Great Lakes region of central Africa. In this connection, the Committee endorses the decision taken by the High Commissioner for Refugees to suspend her Office's protection and assistance activities for Rwandese refugees in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Committee agrees that those activities should be resumed only after guarantees have been received from the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that humanitarian principles will be respected and the security of staff ensured.
"The Committee calls upon all parties in the region to ensure access to affected populations, the security of humanitarian workers and respect for human rights and international humanitarian law. The UNHCR, other concerned humanitarian agencies and human rights observers must be permitted full access to refugees who have returned to their countries of origin to ensure that their rights and safety are respected. In addition, the Committee urges all parties to support the current investigation into allegations of human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo."
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