YouSaid · the spoken record

Menikdiwela

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12
first
2023-09-28
most recent
2023-09-28
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1
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un-security-council

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  1. “We call on States and other stakeholders to use that opportunity to advance their commitments to addressing the challenges of mixed movements through transformational pledges that can translate those four urgent recommendations into actions to save lives.”

    2023-09-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9428 (2023) · source

  2. “Fourthly, with regard to resettlement and complementary pathways, UNHCR urges all States to strengthen investments in development and inclusion in countries of asylum and transit, remove barriers to accessing family reunification and expand resettlement quotas for refugees in Libya and those evacuated to the emergency transit mechanisms. The resettlement quotas for refugees in other North African countries, as well as other pathways for refugees and migrants, should also be increased. Finally, from 13 to 15 December, UNHCR, together with Switzerland, Colombia, France, Japan, Jordan and Uganda, will be organizing the second Global Refugee Forum in Geneva.”

    2023-09-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9428 (2023) · source

  3. “Saving lives at sea and providing humanitarian assistance is one of the most basic obligations of humankind, and those performing rescue operations or helping in good faith should not be penalized for doing so. Thirdly, with regard to the prosecution of smugglers and traffickers, all States must renew their efforts to cooperate in order to effectively investigate and prosecute smugglers and traffickers and those who enable those crimes to be committed on such a large scale, while also protecting the victims of such trafficking.”

    2023-09-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9428 (2023) · source

  4. “The route-based approach also calls for renewed efforts to establish proper, legal and substantive migration pathways to keep economies and social systems going, as well as to provide proper entry points for migrants and complementary pathways for refugees. UNHCR has four urgent recommendations in the context of today’s meeting. First, with regard to human rights safeguards, any cooperation or assistance provided by other States to the Libyan or Tunisian authorities for border management purposes should ensure that the human rights of refugees and migrants are upheld. Secondly, with regard to increased search-and- rescue efforts at sea, all Mediterranean States must urgently step up those efforts and implement effective and predictable disembarkation mechanisms.”

    2023-09-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9428 (2023) · source

  5. “That implies moving away from the sole focus of controlling arrivals at borders to looking at their geographical complexity and doing so at all steps of their migratory routes, including by addressing the root causes in the countries of origin, such as conflict and violence interacting with climate change, weak governance and lack of development. At the core of that approach is the recognition of the importance of the right to seek asylum at borders without being turned away or violently pushed back. People should not be prevented from seeking protection under international human rights law and international refugee law.”

    2023-09-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9428 (2023) · source

  6. “That is a top priority in order to ensure that people, including the most vulnerable people, get the assistance they need. While the solidarity of the people of Lampedusa is laudable, Italy cannot be left on its own to respond to the needs of the arrivals. The UNHCR has repeatedly called for the establishment of an agreed regional disembarkation and redistribution mechanism for people who arrive by sea, in a spirit of responsibility- sharing and solidarity with front-line States. As recently emphasized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the challenges of mixed movements of refugees and migrants require a panoramic approach to population movements.”

    2023-09-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9428 (2023) · source

  7. “While UNHCR recognizes States’ sovereign and legal right to engage with other States and take measures to enhance the management of their borders, effective border management is compatible with respect for human rights. UNHCR, together with the International Organization for Migration and other partners, is committed to assisting the Tunisian and the Libyan authorities in addressing the mixed movements of refugees and migrants arriving at their borders. The situation on Lampedusa, Italy, is cause for serious concern. The UNHCR recognizes the difficulties posed by the very large number of people arriving simultaneously on a small island, where reception capacities are limited. The UNHCR is present on Lampedusa to support the authorities and appreciates their efforts to quickly decongest the island.”

    2023-09-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9428 (2023) · source

  8. “The fact that UNHCR is not authorized to access some disembarkation points controlled by entities involved in interception and rescue at sea limits our ability to assist the people who are disembarked and brought to detention centres. The conditions for thousands of refugees and migrants in both official and unofficial detention facilities in Libya remain of grave concern. UNHCR continues to advocate for ensuring the registration of all persons seeking international refugee protection and is seeking Libya’s support to ensure access to them and appropriate responses for them. UNHCR also remains concerned about the disembarkation in Libya of refugees and migrants rescued or intercepted at sea, since Libya is not a place of safety for the purposes of disembarkation following rescue at sea.”

    2023-09-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9428 (2023) · source

  9. “The high departure rates in Tunisia result from perceptions of insecurity among refugee communities, following incidents of racially motivated attacks and hate speech, as well as collective expulsions from Libya and Algeria. That is taking place in a broader context of the deterioration in the security situation of several countries neighbouring North Africa, triggering more secondary movements, with land arrivals and asylum- seeker registrations in Tunisia seeing a marked increase this year. While UNHCR is dealing with restrictions in registration in Libya, nearly 50,000 refugees and asylum seekers there are nevertheless registered with our Office.”

    2023-09-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9428 (2023) · source

  10. “In total, between January and 24 September some 186,000 people reached Southern Europe by sea — in Italy, Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Malta — with the vast majority, more than 130,000 people, arriving in Italy, an increase of 83 per cent compared to the same period in 2022. By 24 September, more than 2,500 people were accounted dead or missing in 2023 alone. That number represents a two-thirds increase over the total of 1,680 people for the same period in 2022. Lives are also being lost on land, away from public attention. The journey from West Africa, or from the eastern Horn of Africa, to Libya and onward to points of departure on the coast, remains one of the most dangerous in the world. Refugees and migrants travelling along the land routes from sub-Saharan Africa risk death and gross human rights violations at every step.”

    2023-09-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9428 (2023) · source

  11. “Between January and August of this year, it is estimated that more than 102,000 refugees and migrants attempted to cross the central Mediterranean Sea to Europe from Tunisia alone, a 260 per cent increase compared to last year, in addition to more than 45,000 people from Libya. Some 31,000 people were rescued at sea or intercepted and disembarked in Tunisia, in addition to 10,600 in Libya. Departures from Algeria were more limited, with almost 4,700 arrivals in Spain by August, an increase of 18 per cent compared to last year. In addition, a total of 3,700 people were rescued or intercepted by the Algerian authorities during the same period, a 68 per cent increase from last year.”

    2023-09-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9428 (2023) · source

  12. “Ms. Menikdiwela: I would like to express the appreciation of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for this opportunity to brief the members of the Security Council and other invited participants on critical issues relating to the protection and human rights of refugees and migrants involved in irregular sea movements from North Africa to Europe. As a front-line humanitarian agency — and despite our advocacy, assistance and other efforts with States to alleviate human suffering — we continue to bear witness to the tragedies of lives lost at sea and on land routes with no end in sight. Please bear with me, Mr. President, while I provide some numbers that provide a sobering picture of the dimensions of the problem.”

    2023-09-28 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.9428 (2023) · source