The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) urged Australia to address the imminent humanitarian crisis for refugees and asylum seekers in Papua New Guinea, stressing his profound concern over the risks of “offshore processing” arrangements, for which Australia seeks to decrease support by the end of October.
In progress at UNHQ
Noon Briefings
Irina Bokova, Executive Director of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, condemned today the killing of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta yesterday. She welcomed the Prime Minister’s pledge to ensure justice in the crime against the right of free expression.
The Secretary-General, expressing his solidarity with the people of Somalia after the brutal attacks in Mogadishu, said he was disgusted by the unprecedented violence. He urged all Somalis to unite in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism and work together in building a functional and inclusive federal State.
In strife-torn Sabratha, Libya, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and World Food Programme are delivering urgently humanitarian aid in and around the city. Fierce fighting in recent weeks has left 3,000 Libyan families displaced and more than 10,000 refugees stranded.
With today marking one year since the start of the military campaign to retake Mosul from Da’esh, the Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq said that of the 1 million people who fled the city, some 673,000 are still displaced. She noted that the number of people who fled exceeded the worst-case projections of aid workers.
Concluding a visit to the Central African Republic, Adama Dieng, Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, told press in Bangui that those responsible for atrocities and those instrumental in inciting ethnic and religious hatred would be held responsible and would have to face justice.
Marking World Day against the Death Penalty, the Secretary-General said that the barbaric practice had no place in the twenty-first century and called on countries who continued to use it to stop executions. He also praised progress made, noting some 170 countries had either abolished or stopped using the death penalty.
In Bangladesh, aid workers and the Government continue scaling up operations and, as of 4 October, have given food assistance to 515,500 Rohingya refugees that have fled from Myanmar. On Tuesday, the World Health Organization and partners will launch the world’s second-largest cholera vaccination campaign in Cox’s Bazar.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) today echoed the concern of the Secretary-General about the violence in south-west and north-west Cameroon. OHCHR calls on the Government of Cameroon to establish prompt, effective, impartial and independent investigations to ensure accountability.
United Nations agencies and their partners have dramatically scaled up the relief operation in Dominica as access improves across the island, OCHA reports. And in Antigua and Barbuda, $2 million has been mobilized to help provide permanent roofing on Barbuda.