Libya

The United Nations in Myanmar is following with concern the reports of violent clashes between the police and protesters in Rakhine State.  The United Nations Office urges respect for the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression, and calls for the security forces and demonstrators to act with restraint.

Ending a languishing humanitarian crisis in Libya and stamping out the spectre of violence and clashes that continued to kill and injure civilians across the country hinged on strong international support for an effective Government, the Secretary‑General’s Special Representative told the Security Council today.

The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that $430 million is needed this year to help 2.8 million people in Afghanistan, assisting those displaced by conflict or natural disaster, feeding malnourished children and helping vulnerable families returning home after years in Iran or Pakistan.

The World Food Programme (WFP) and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) appealed today to donors after they were forced to reduce food rations and cash assistance for more than 100,000 refugees in Rwanda.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warns that heavy rains and flooding in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may exacerbate the country’s ongoing cholera epidemic.  The current outbreak, which began in July, is one of the most severe in years.  The latest reports find 55,000 cases, including nearly 1,200 deaths, for 2017 alone — double the number of cases in 2016.

The International Organization for Migration has chartered its first flight of 2018 under the Voluntary Humanitarian Return programme, helping 142 returnees departing from Libya to Gambia.  The organization has escorted almost 20,000 migrants home from Libya since the beginning of 2017.

Reaffirming its commitment to the sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity and national unity of Libya, the Security Council today reiterated that the Libyan Political Agreement of 17 December 2015 remained the only viable framework to end the Libyan political crisis and that its implementation remained key to holding elections and finalizing the political transition.

The United Nations Mission in South Sudan dispatched a patrol to Abier, Cuei-Cok and Abiriu, in the northwest of Lakes region, on 9 December following an attack by armed youth last week in which more than 60 people were killed and 70 injured.  During the patrol, the Mission interviewed witnesses, visited the wounded and cautioned against retaliatory attacks.

Expressing grave concern about reports of migrants being sold into slavery in Libya, the Security Council today condemned such actions as heinous abuses of human rights and possible crimes against humanity, and called for those responsible to be held to account.

United Nations humanitarian flights to Yemen resumed on 25 November, with two commercial vessels having arrived in Hodaidah carrying 35,020 metric tons of wheat and flour.  Three vessels carrying nearly 65,000 metric tons of food have been cleared by the United Nations Verification and Inspection Mechanism and are awaiting permission from the Saudi Arabia-led coalition to enter the port.