Middle East

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.

The following Security Council press statement was issued today by Council President Liu Jieyi (China):

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

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

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.

Despite declining violence in some parts of Syria in recent months, the country’s humanitarian and protection situation remained extremely difficult for civilians, Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Ursula Mueller told the Security Council today.

Swift, decisive action was required to revive negotiations and end the crisis in Jerusalem and beyond before rising tensions dragged both Israel and Palestine into a vortex of violence and a religious conflict, the Special Coordinator of the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council today.

Recent developments at Old City holy sites in Jerusalem have shown a grave risk that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will escalate into a religious one and drag both sides into a vortex of violence with the entire region, Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, told the Security Council.

Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, called today for an immediate end to Australia’s off-shore processing of refugees, saying the harmful practice, carried out in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, denies access to asylum in Australia and has caused extensive, avoidable suffering for far too long.

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