DELAYS IN OBTAINING ENTRY VISAS, PARKING PROGRAMME DIFFICULTIES ISSUES RAISED AT HOST COUNTRY COMMITTEE MEETING

Committee on Relations

with Host Country

215^th Meeting (PM)

DELAYS IN OBTAINING ENTRY VISAS, PARKING PROGRAMME DIFFICULTIES

ISSUES RAISED AT HOST COUNTRY COMMITTEE MEETING

Meeting for the first time this year, the Committee on Relations with the Host Country today heard complaints over delays in obtaining entry visas and difficulties with the new parking programme.

The Iraq Mission had been facing numerous impediments to its work, contrary to the agreement with the host country, its representative told the Committee.  One problem concerned entry visas for some Iraqi experts and diplomats, including university professors.  He cited examples of officials who had not received visas in time to cover such meetings as the anniversary signing of the Law of the Sea Convention and the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court. 

The Iraqi representative also said that Iraqi diplomats had been harassed and followed, including by well known Unites States representatives, inside and outside the United Nations Building.  That was unacceptable behaviour and must be stopped immediately.  He was ready to provide evidence, including names, of such conduct.  If that behaviour was not stopped, the Iraqi Mission would be forced to expose it, including what had occurred this morning to two Iraqi officials.  Contacts had been made with Mission staff and certain members had been followed.  He asked that such “approaches” be stopped.

Responding, the United States representative said he would challenge and unequivocally deny the validity of that statement.  He was willing to sit here all night if that delegate would present names and evidence.

Regarding the new parking programme with the city, effective last November, several representatives raised concerns, including from Costa Rica, China, Cuba, and Spain.  They referred to burdens they were experiencing under the new programme, including the use by private vehicles of their designated spaces and difficulties appealing summons.

The Russian Federation representative said that the two parking spaces reserved for the mission in New York City were almost always taken.  The usual steps of contacting the municipal hotline and preparing notes for the United Nations had proved ineffective and none of the offenders had been fined.  He, therefore, could not justify the fines against mission vehicles until the parking problem was resolved.  Moreover, appealing unfair fines was a very imperfect procedure.

The Cuban representative, in particular, said the programme was a burden on the mission of developing countries.  As such, the process should be reviewed and simplified.  The bureaucratic mechanism did not resolve the issues.  Neither was

there an understanding of the programme by the citizens themselves, who had not been informed about the parking rights of diplomats.  He hoped solutions could be found as quickly as possible.  Failure to resolve those issues could damage relations between New York and diplomatic staff.

Responding to the issue of visas, the United States representative said the United States was very much aware of the delays.  It was doing all it could to see that visas were issued as expeditiously as possible.  His Government was undergoing an almost an unprecedented reorganization, with the establishment of the Homeland Security Department and the transfer of agencies and departments into that.  The process was not yet complete. 

He explained further that many of the departments dealing with visas were migrating into the Homeland Security Department.  That had meant new procedures and changes of commands.  Both the United States Mission and the Department of State in Washington, D.C., were doing all they could to minimize those delays and uphold their treaty obligations.  If it had taken 15 days to process a visa application, it would now take 20 or even longer in cases of expired visas for diplomats who had no travel plans or family emergencies.  United States’ national security, as with other countries, depended upon effective border controls and visa checks, he said.

Concerning parking, he said he very much regretted the comments made by various representatives.  He invited missions to advise the City Commissioner and the United States Mission of specific problems.  The Mission had dedicated an officer almost exclusively to parking issues.  Touching briefly on some other points, missions that were not receiving adequate explanations about why tickets were upheld should see the United States Mission.  If they won, “take the money and run and don’t bother asking for an explanation”, he advised. 

He added that if the appeals process were administratively burdensome, missions were fully authorized to send a diplomatic note to the host country Mission, which would serve as liaison with the City of New York.  He believed that, while certain small problems were still being worked out, the convenience and spaces made available to diplomats had made life much easier for many countries.

The representative of the New York City Commission said the city was committed to working with the diplomatic community on all issues, especially on diplomatic parking.  The Commission had worked expeditiously to resolve all matters brought to its attention or to the attention of the Committee.  When the matter of other vehicles parking in reserved places had been researched, the Commission had learned that the majority of those “other” cars were diplomatic or consular cars. 

On the issue of responsiveness from the municipal hotlines operated by the Police Department, she said that additional resources had been allocated to address the diplomatic community’s concerns.  Given the situation today, police were busier than usual protecting the city from crime and threats of terror.  Training of the 40,000 officers with the authority to issue summons had taken place and would be reinforced periodically.

Chairman of the Committee Sotrios Zackheos (Cyprus) conveyed the Committee’s condolences to the host country and to the families of the crew of the Space Shuttle Columbia.  That tragedy had saddened all.