Syria

The text of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration was finalized on 13 July, marking the first time that Member States have come together to negotiate an agreement covering all dimensions of global migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner.

The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) has temporarily deployed 40 peacekeepers to Bijombo, South Kivu, where violent clashes between local armed groups have reportedly destroyed entire villages, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee to such areas as Uvira.

The United Nations Mission for Justice Support in Haiti reports that the situation there remains tense and volatile following the suspension of a fuel price hike by Prime Minister Lafontant on Saturday.  The Mission is helping to remove roadblocks to ensure access to key roads.

The latest report issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization warns today that time is running out for the world’s forests, whose total area is shrinking every day.  Forests provide around 20 per cent of income for rural households in developing countries and fuel for cooking and heating for 1 in every 3 people around the world.

Thousands of Rohingya people continue fleeing Myanmar’s Rakhine State and describe continued violence and human rights abuses, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, told the Human Rights Council yesterday, warning that the international community will not forget the outrages committed.

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

The Human Rights Office says it is deeply concerned at reports that the Palestinian Bedouin community of Khan al Ahmar-Abu al Helu is to be demolished by the Israeli authorities in the coming days.  The community is home to 181 people,  more than half of them children.

In Syria, intense air and ground‑based strikes continuing over the weekend in multiple areas in Dara’a Governorate have led to the largest displacement — an estimated 270,000 people — since the conflict began in 2011, according to our humanitarian colleagues.

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

Today is the International Day of the Tropics.  As you know, the Tropics are the area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn, and host approximately 80 per cent of the world’s biodiversity and much of its language and cultural diversity.