HAITI: UN envoy urges that deportations do not result in statelessness of people born in Dominican Republic

Approximately 200,000 Haitian migrants live in bateyes – communities located on or near to sugar cane plantations in the Dominican Republic.25 June 2015 – Amid ongoing concern about the status of thousands of immigrants living in the Dominican Republic, the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General for Haiti, Sandra Honoré, said that deportations carried out by Santo Domingo authorities should not result in statelessness of people of Haitian descent.
Ms. Honoré also considered that such acts should be consistent with the dignity, human rights and international humanitarian law.
This call comes as the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) last Friday appealed to the Government of the Dominican Republic to ensure that people who were arbitrarily deprived of their nationality as a result of a 2013 ruling of the Dominican Constitutional Court would not be deported.
According to UNHCR, in May 2014, the Dominican Republic adopted a naturalization law which provided for the re-issuance of nationality documents for some individuals born in the Dominican Republic and gave others the possibility to apply for special registration until February 2015, opening a path to eventual citizenship.
In a welcome development, the agency said, the Dominican authorities have concluded an audit of the first group whereby some 57,000 individuals could be reasonably presumed to have found a solution, but tens of thousands of people who were born in the Dominican Republic and are of Haitian descent remain stateless. The consequences of their eventual expulsion to Haiti could be devastating.
In an interview with UN Radio, Ms. Honoré said that in a recent meeting with the Foreign Minister and the immigration authorities in the Dominican Republic, those officials explained to her that during the process they would “take all necessary measures so that there was full respect for the basic guarantees of the people.”
Ms. Honoré, who is also head of UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), said that to date, there has been an increase in the flow of returnees and that both governments have decided that there would be two official points for carrying out deportations.
“We encourage the dialogue recently begun at the level of foreign ministers of both countries to continue, to agree on the best way to…address these measures,” she said.
She said that at several points along the border where people have gathered, the Haitian Government does not have the capability to receive or process them. “This will, in fact, be a challenge for the Government,” she acknowledged, and added that in response, Haitian authorities have established a committee of national solidarity to deal with the question of returnees from the Dominican Republic.
In addition, Ms. Honoré said the Government of Haiti does have a contingency plan that it has developed to deal with the return of large numbers of Haitian citizens and the Government is working with UN agencies, funds and programmes regarding the support it needs to enact the plan.
“Our mandate for stabilization in Haiti dictates that we support the Government as best we can and within the resources that are available to us,” she said, explaining that two rounds of elections – legislative and presidential – are scheduled to take place in Haiti over the coming months.
The UN would aim to maintain support for the Government to ensure that the climate surrounding these elections would be a serene as possible, and “we would do everything that we possibly can to ensure that the challenges posed by this situation do not translate into any undesirable effects on the overall election process,” concluded Ms. Honoré.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=51255#.VY3KNVLeums

SAFE SCHOOLS Declaration and Guidelines aim to protect schools and universities from military use during times of armed conflict.

Senior UN official urges States to ensure inviolability of schools in times of conflict.

25 June 2015 – Schools and universities must remain immune to the violence wrought by global conflicts, the United Nations Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Leila Zerrougui, has affirmed as she urged Member States to commit to safeguarding places of learning from the ravages of war.
“While some claim there is a military logic to using schools, Governments and military commanders must also be cognizant of the grave repercussions such commandeering has on children’s right to education,” Ms. Zerrougui declared in a statement delivered on her behalf at a Human Rights Council side-event in Geneva yesterday.
“At best, the military’s presence arguably dilutes, and can even dispel the feeling for children that their school is their sanctuary where they can exercise their right to education – especially in locations where conflict and confusion are sadly more the norm than the exception,” she added.
The Special Representative’s appeal comes as she campaigns for Member States to sign the recently completed Safe Schools Declaration and Guidelines which aim to protect schools and universities from military use during times of armed conflict. The Declaration has already received 46 endorsements.
In addition, the Security Council recently reaffirmed its commitment to the issue of safe schools stating in its Resolution 2225 on the protection of children in armed conflict that it encourages Member States to take concrete measures to deter the use of schools by armed forces and groups.
“I can assure the participants attending this present event that I and my office will strongly advocate on behalf of children in conflict situations to persuade as many other Member States as we can to throw their support behind the initiative, and to commit to the Guidelines so that we may in turn assure children everywhere that the school they attend is a safe one,” Ms. Zerrougui’s statement concluded.
 http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=51256#.VY3IkFLeums

COLOMBIA: UN chief concerned about uptick in fighting, urges continued peace talks

A mother carries her baby through the winding, steep streets of the settlement of Altos de la Florida, Soacha, Colombia. The majority of people in the settlement have been displaced from other areas of Colombia because of fighting and threats by various armed factions.25 June 2015 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern over the current upsurge in fighting in Colombia in a reversal of recent attempts to de-escalate the country’s long-standing armed conflict, the United Nations spokesperson’s office has reported.
In a statement released earlier this afternoon, the Secretary-General’s spokesperson confirmed Mr. Ban’s call to all parties to the Havana talks and the Colombian people to remain hopeful and to persist in the search for peace.
Rebels from Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) have been in talks with the government for the last 30 months, seeking to end a 51-year conflict that has made almost a quarter of a million victims.
According to media reports, however, tension mounted in recent weeks amid clashes between insurgents and Government soldiers.
“The Secretary-General commends the parties for the important progress they have made thus far in negotiations, a process that has brought the country closer to peace,” the spokesperson’s statement continued. “He is confident they can overcome the current impasse and bring the process to a successful conclusion.”
In addition, the statement noted that Mr. Ban called on the parties to resume the path toward de-escalation and accelerate the pace of the negotiations in order to restore momentum and public confidence in the process and added that the Secretary-General “firmly believes that peace is possible as long as Colombians can put this goal above all others and find ways to overcome their differences, both in Havana and in Colombia.” http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=51257#.VY3HxFLeums

LIBYA: ‘We are getting closer to a solution,’ says UN Libya envoy, opening latest round of talks on ending crisis

Special Representative Bernardino León (left) speaks to the media in Morocco.25 June 2015 – Previewing what he hopes will be the last round of United Nations-backed political talks on Libya, the UN envoy for the country said today the fact that all the participants in the dialogue have accepted a fourth draft proposal as the basis for a final political solution is “extremely encouraging” that agreement could be reached during discussions over the coming days. “We have just started this meeting, which the Libyans first of all, and everybody in the region…really [all of] us, expect to be the last round, the final round of talks,” Bernardino León, the UN Special Representative for Libya told reporters in Skhirat, Morocco, where he is facilitating the talks based on the draft political proposal he presented to the parties two weeks ago.He said the parties and the UN facilitation are “getting closer to a solution” he is encouraged by the fact that all the stakeholders had accepted the draft as a basis for a final solution. “So, we are really looking forward to our discussions in the coming days and the possibility to have an agreement which is accepted by everybody.”
“This is the challenge we have. This is what we are trying to do,” he continued, telling reporters that the meetings had begun hearing remarks on the text by the GNC (General National Congress). Some of the other participants would be arriving in the coming hours and over the next few days he could provide a more concrete reading of what those remarks are about and the possibilities of finalizing a text which would be broadly accepted “as soon as possible.” Responding to questions regarding changes to the text proposed by some parties, Mr. León asked for time to analyse the suggestions. “We are in a negotiation. This is a work trying to reach consensus, trying to integrate [all] points of view. But until we have a complete reading of the remarks presented by everybody we will not be in a position to assess what the possibilities for the text are.”
Calling the current stage “preliminary work”, he said that in the coming days “we will be in a much better position to assess exactly the possibilities to reach this consensus.”

Despite growing threats, UN peacekeepers worldwide remain dedicated to serve

More than one million military, police and civilian personnel have served as United Nations peacekeepers over the years, and despite growing security threats and the sacrifices that come with being deployed in challenging environments, over 100,000 men and women continue to work for the cause of peace. Read source: http://www.un.org/news/

Displaced Iraqis face mounting difficulties as fighting continues between Government forces and ISIL

According to a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Assistant High Commissioner for Protection of Refugees, Volker Turk, recently returned to Geneva from a trip to Iraq, where 114,000 have recently been displaced from the city of Ramadi, in Anbar province, as fighting between Government forces and extremists intensified. Of the total, around 54,000 have gone to Baghdad, 15,000 to Sulaimaniyah in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, 2,100 to Babylon and around 900 to Diyala. Around 39,000 of those displaced remain in Anbar, with many unable to move further afield. Inside Anbar, internally displaced people (IDPS) seek shelter wherever they can find it, in places such as Khalidiya and Amriyat Al Fallujah, southeast of Fallujah, where they stay with relatives and host families or seek shelter in mosques and schools. Overcrowding is a major issue and in one community centre in Al Habaniya, people displaced from previous waves of violence shared space with new arrivals; in some cases as many as four families share a single tent. “We are also concerned about the processing arrangements in place at the Bzabz Bridge – a series of pontoons across the Euphrates River, about 65 kilometres west of Baghdad, which marks the boundary between Anbar and the capital,” UNHCR spokesman Adrian Edwards told journalists. “We are also liaising with the Iraqi authorities, advocating for them to ease restrictions on the movement of people to safe areas.” People waiting on the Anbar side had no shelter and faced worsening conditions. The newly displaced were exhausted and anxious to move on to more secure locations. Some people had walked for miles without food and water. “While more people have been able to move into Baghdad in recent days, reports overnight suggest many displaced people are now waiting in Diyala trying to cross into the Kurdistan region of Iraq,” Mr. Edwards said. UNHCR has distributed mattresses, blankets, kitchen utensils, hygiene sets, fans and coolers to 8,000 people in Ameriyat Al Fallujah and Baghdad in recent days, with more distribution to another 12,000 people underway. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the World Food Programme (WFP) said the agency has provided food assistance to around 60,000 people fleeing Ramadi. She added that continued relief efforts would require financial support from the international community because $250 million was needed for emergency operations between now and September for emergency operations and logistics. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=50645#.VTlgR_Deums

MOROCCO: Libyan parties open new round of UN-backed political talks aimed at restoring ‘stability and prosperity’

A new round of political dialogue on Libya, hosted by Morocco and facilitated by the United Nations Support Mission (UNSMIL) in the country began in Skhirat, Morocco, today, aiming to end the crisis in the country. http://www.un.org/news/