Syria

UNHCR says that more than 1,500 refugees and migrants have lost their lives attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea in the first seven months of 2018.  The bleak milestone was confirmed after more than 850 lives were lost in June and July alone, marking the Mediterranean crossing as the world’s deadliest sea route.

The Food and Agriculture Organization appealed today for $120 million to reach 3.6 million people urgently requiring humanitarian and agricultural aid.  A new FAO report identifies the world’s most underfunded crises, including Afghanistan, Sudan and Syria — all hit by drought — monsoon‑affected Bangladesh, the Central African Republic, as well as Iraq, Myanmar and the Sahel.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern over continuing arrests and apparently arbitrary detentions of human rights defenders and activists in Saudi Arabia.  Since 15 May, at least 15 Government critics have been detained, their whereabouts unknown, in some cases, amid a serious lack of transparency.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has found that children make up nearly 30 per cent of all identified victims of human trafficking.  In regions such as sub‑Saharan Africa and Central America and the Caribbean, the proportion is more than 60 per cent.

Recovery and response efforts are continuing in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic following the 23 July dam collapse, according to the humanitarian community.  The United Nations is working closely with the Government to provide any support requested.

The United Nations has verified that more than 7,000 children lost their lives or were maimed since the crisis in Syria erupted in 2011, the Secretary‑General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict told the Security Council today, noting that unverified reports escalate that figure “way beyond” 20,000.

The United Nations country team in El Salvador will meet tomorrow to develop a plan of action following the Government’s declaration of a red alert emergency due to the severe drought affecting some 77,000 farmers growing corn, one of the country’s main staple foods.  Eastern El Salvador has reported 33 consecutive days without rain, and record temperatures reaching 41°C.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed deep alarm today at persistent reports of human rights violations and abuses in Cameroon’s English‑speaking north‑west and south‑west regions, as well as in the extreme north.  He said it is regrettable that the Government failed to grant the Human Rights Office access to the two regions despite repeated requests.

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

At the Global Disability Summit in London, the Deputy Secretary-General said that Governments’ commitments often does not translate into major improvements for the 1.5 billion persons with disabilities across the world, adding that the United Nations has launched a review of its approach, institutionally and operationally, to disabilities.