Friday, 9 January 2004
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UN Agencies Continue to Mobilize Relief Aid for Iran

UN relief agencies continue to mobilize humanitarian assistance to Iran in the aftermath of the earthquake that struck Bam on December 26. In Rome today the World Food Programme launched a three-month emergency operation to feed some 100,000 people. In Geneva, the Deputy Director of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Rashid Khalikov, said the UN has finished the search and rescue phase of its emergency operations and is now moving to the phase of humanitarian relief and preparing the ground for reconstruction:

"The commitment of the United Nations is to continue to do whatever it can to assess the damage, to design together with the authorities of Iran, local and central, the best response and also to work together to mobilize international assistance."

United Nations officials estimate that long-term rebuilding of Bam could cost as much as one billion dollars.

More Sudanese Refugees Flee to Eastern Chad

Sudanese refugees continue to flee the Darfur region of Sudan to eastern Chad. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR, says the newly arrived refugees are reporting that marauding militia groups are looting, burning and emptying entire villages in the Darfur region. The UN refugee agency has sent an emergency team to Djoran in the northeast region where a makeshift refugee site is housing an estimated 40,000 refugees. UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond says there are between 4,000 and 8,000 refugees living in extremely precarious conditions in that site:

"In the site at Djoran they have built hundreds of flimsy shelters made of branches and grass. The huts are usually no more than two or three square metres. They often house entire families averaging around five children each."

Mr. Redmond says the huts offer minimal protection from the sun and almost none from the cold nighttime temperatures which can plunge to as low as four degrees centigrade.

Australia and UNHCR Review Asylum Claims by Afghans in Nauru

Australian authorities and the UN refugee agency are reviewing rejected asylum claims for Afghan asylum seekers in Nauru. The asylum seekers had gone on strike to protest the rejection of their application. The hunger strike ended on Thursday following assurances that the applications would be reviewed. A doctor from the International Organization for Migration removed stitches from the mouths of four hunger strikers who had sewn their lips together. IOM spokesman Christopher Lom says the doctor also briefed the remaining 33 strikers on how to restart their digestive systems with a soup and warm milk diet:

"The hunger strike is apparently indefinitely suspended and we are now waiting for the outcome of the review of the rejected asylum claims by the Australian authorities and UNHCR."

The IOM-managed processing centre is currently housing over 280 mainly Afghans and Iraqis intercepted by Australian authorities en route to Australia.

Civil Society Calls on UN to Protect Children in Armed Conflict

A network of non-governmental organizations known as the Watchlist today launched a paper on the protection of children in armed conflict. The paper identifies three areas where progress must be made to close the gap between international commitment to protect children and harsh and gross violations of children's security. The areas cover monitoring and reporting, the Secretary-General's child soldiers' list and graduated measures to ensure compliance with international norms. Julia Freedson, the Coordinator of the Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict, launched the report at a press conference on Friday:

"This paper is a call to action urging the UN Security Council members, the UN system, regional bodies, civil society, and national government to respond with the resources and remedies proportionate to the grave state of affairs for children in armed conflict around the globe."

Head of UNESCO Deplores Killing of Journalists

The head of the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO, has condemned the killing of five journalists in recent weeks.