Democratic Republic of the Congo

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees issued protection guidance encouraging States to ensure that Venezuelans seeking asylum had access to territory and refugee procedures. Given the situation in Venezuela, the High Commissioner said it was crucial that people were not deported or forcibly returned.

The Secretary-General is encouraged by the announcement of an agreement between the United States and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to hold a summit meeting by May.  He reiterates his support for all efforts towards peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

The Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan briefed the Security Council today.  He said that Afghanistan had successfully hosted the second conference of the Kabul Process for peace and security, where participants endorsed direct talks between the Government and the Taliban without preconditions.

Discussing the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo today, Security Council members underscored the importance of the holding of fair and credible elections, as the electoral process in that country continued amid continued increasing violence and unrest.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the arrival of migrants in Italy — the most active route for those leaving North Africa for Europe — hit a five-year low:  5,247 for the first two months of 2018, versus some 13,000 for the same period last year.  IOM attributed the drop, in part, to voluntary humanitarian returns from detention centres in Libya.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees warned today that a extraordinary humanitarian disaster  is about to hit south-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, as the Province of Tanganyika plunges further into violence, triggering spiralling displacement and human rights abuses.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and humanitarian colleagues express concern about persistent forced displacement of indigenous people and farming communities in rural Colombia. Since 19 January, violence in Caceres has displaced at least 822 people; in Bajo Cauco murders have increased.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the World Food Programme today said it is energizing two key elements of its emergency operation to prevent famine in war-ravaged Kasaï:  cash distributions to the most vulnerable and specialist support to check acute malnutrition in women and young children.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have agreed with the United Nations on the modalities to transfer, by the end of March, $930 million in support of the 2018 Yemen Humanitarian Response Plan, according to Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock.

The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has received four allegations of misconduct, including three allegations of sexual exploitation.  These allegations involve military peacekeepers.