Mali

The International Organization for Migration has released a report profiling migrants passing through its West Africa transit centres.  It reveals wide-spread misinformation about what awaits migrants on their journeys and in countries of temporary residence, particularly Algeria and Libya, where migrants reported abusive treatment, physical violence, and/or threats.

Aid workers in Iraq are preparing to bring water, hygiene, sanitation, food and emergency medical care to those in need ahead of the anticipated military campaign to retake the Da’esh-held town of Telafar, some 60 kilometres west of Mosul.  Some 60,000 people are believed to remain trapped in the city and its environs.

The Secretary-General joins Jean-Pierre Lacroix, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, in conveying profound sympathies to the families and loved ones of the two German peacekeepers killed in a helicopter crash near Tabankort, in the Gao region of northern Mali, and offers condolences to the Government of Germany, as well as the United Nations Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali.

The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) condemns continuing ceasefire violations by two signatories of the Peace and Reconciliation Agreement — the CMA and the Plateforme.  The Head of MINUSMA urged the leadership of both groups to put an end to the violations immediately.

The Security Council today decided to extend the mandate of the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) for one year, while maintaining its previous troop level and highlighting such priority tasks as the protection of civilians and support to the country’s defence and security forces.

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

Despite progress towards peace in Mali, terrorist attacks remained a major obstacle, the head of the United Nations peacekeeping operation in that country told the Security Council today, as the State’s Foreign Minister called for the Council’s authority to deploy a regional counter-terrorism force so as to keep the nation on the road to reconciliation.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warns that at least 750,000 children could be cut off from safe drinking water after a surge in fighting in eastern Ukraine.  Almost 3 million people in the country rely on water infrastructure which is now in the line of fire.

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi urged Governments today to deliver a massive increase in places available for refugees in third countries, in line with last September’s New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, as the agency opened its annual resettlement consultations.