Foreign Minister: (brief remarks)
Q: I would like to know if you are satisfied with the reform process of the UN and if you believe that nowadays the Organization is able to reflect the world we live in and give an answer to the main issues of our time.
SG: Yes, I am satisfied with the results of the Summit. It is precisely, we want to adapt the Organization to be able to deal with the challenges and the threats we are facing that we are going through this reform process. And I think that the decisions taken in New York last month have given us a very good basis to move forward and we are pressing ahead with the implementation of those decisions which were taken and I am going to keep working with the Member States to agree on those issues which are still in suspense and this includes nuclear non-proliferation disarmament issues, it includes the reform of the Security Council and so I am very satisfied and in fact, it was precisely because of the question you raised that two years ago I set up a High-Level Panel to study threats, challenges and change that we must go through. So they came with a very good report on the threats and challenges and now we working on the changes through the reform.
Q: Are the Members of the UN, the main ones, the more powerful ones for instance like the United States spending too much energy and focusing too much on issues like the war against terror and not in issues like other goals like poverty and so on.
SG: I think that one of the remarkable outcomes of this study, the Panel's report and the work of the Summit is the realization that there are many threats and they are all important -- terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, poverty, environmental degradation and fight against diseases. I have been to many regions of the world, I have been to all regions, and when we ask them what is your greatest fear, what is your greatest threat, it differs from region to region. Some may say terrorism, others will tell you poverty, yet others will tell you environmental degradation, our island will be washed away, and these are the issues we need to deal with. And if any group of countries want others to be sensitive, to their fears and their concerns, they have to be sensitive to the concerns of the others too. That is why we need to cooperate across borders.
Q: Looking at what is going on in Ceuta and Melilla, this dramatic situation, do you think that the European Union is doing enough to cope with this kind of problems in terms of immigration, in terms of help to development?
SG: I think that the immigration issue is a very important one and a very topical one. It is not an issue only for the European Union, it is a global issue. But let me start by saying that the phenomenon of people crossing borders is not a new one. It has been going on for centuries and today with over 200 million people living outside their home countries it is important that we find ways of managing migration. And quite frankly, many countries need migration to be able to sustain their economic standards and standards of living and economic viability. There are countries in Europe that in demographic terms are not even, the birth rate is not replacement rate, you need 2.1 percent to have a replacement rate. Some are much considerably lower than that. But what is important is that there are advantages to migration for the countries of origin, for the transit countries and for the countries of destination and for the migrants themselves. We have to manage the process and two years ago, we set up a global commission on migration. They gave me their report on 5 September, 5 October, sorry, 5 October, and the UN will be having a special high-level session on migration next year, indicating the importance and the global nature of the problem. I have had the chance to speak at the European Parliament on this issue. Where the second part of your question also was relevant, in that if the people were able to make a decent living at home and had the capacity to do that they would not be on the move. So the question of development assistance and helping release creative energies of people of these countries is a relevant point.
Q: We heard about your role of the East Timor question but one of the forgotten issues is the crimes against humanity committed as you know in East Timor in 1999. I am not talking about the 200,000 people that were killed during the Suharto regime occupation. We see that six years after the referendum there was no credible trial of the Indonesian military and other people, that was not created a credible international court as for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda…
SG: I think I get your drift. Can I answer your question?
Q: But what do you think about that?
SG: Obviously, in all these situations, justice is important and the East Timorese and the Indonesians have come together to set up a Truth and Reconciliation Committee jointly to try and look into some of these things. It is only remarkable to see the improved relations between the two of them. I must say East Timor has managed the relationship with its neighbors -- whether it is Australia or Indonesia -- brilliantly. The UN, working through the Security Council, asked me to send a committee of experts to the region to determine what measures should be taken to strengthen the criminal prosecution of those involved. That team went, they have a report, which I have given to the Security Council. The Security Council has the report now and will have to deliberate on that. But let me say that this question of justice, peace and stability is sometimes a very complex one, in the sense that yes, we need justice and in some situations we cannot have peace without justice, but what is the sequence -- peace, stability, justice? The timing of these things and other issues the two countries are trying to work on and of course their views and their concerns are also relevant. So we have discussed and we are in touch. And there is a report for the Council. So we are all very conscious of the issues. It has not been ignored or overlooked, as I said, the report is before the Council.
Q: I would like to ask you what was the biggest difficulty you found at your mandate at the United Nations and what are your plans for a year or so you have left as Secretary-General.
SG: Undoubtedly, I think the biggest challenge was Iraq. And the whole issue of disarmament that led to the war that divided the international community and the membership of the UN and of course, now we are all trying to help stabilize Iraq. So Iraq has probably been the most difficult challenge during my mandate. As for the next 15 months or so, I am going to focus on the reform. I am going to press ahead with the reform of the Organization, implement what has been agreed, work with the Member States to get agreement on other issues. I will press ahead on the issue of poverty alleviation and the fight against HIV/AIDS and in the strengthening and the establishment of the new institutions that have been approved, the Peacebuilding Commission, and particularly the Human Rights Council. So I have a lot on my plate.
Q: More about the situation in the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla. You spoke two days ago of the right for the immigrants to be treated fairly. Are you speaking of the right to come or (inaudible) to be treated fairly. Because I know that there are thousands and thousands and probably tens of thousands of people coming in this area, in Portugal, Spain.
SG: I think that's a question of, we have international conventions and norms on these issues. In fact, when I was in Geneva I discussed this with the High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres. And of course he has three teams in these two enclaves as well as one in the Canary Islands. And he sent a team to Morocco to discuss this issue with them because there has to be screening, you have to be able to determine if there are genuine asylum seekers amongst the group under international law. People who are genuine refugees, who when they are sent back to their countries could be tortured, persecuted, should not be subject o refoulement, but we need to screen them, we need to go through the procedure, I hope that with the efforts of the High Commissioner, they will be given a process, to do screening and the norms will be respected.
Q: (inaudible)
SG: I don't know, I haven't done any screening and I have not met any of them. But what I say is that they should be treated according to the norms, their rights should be respected and they should be treated humanely.
Q: The Summit seemed to bring the world new hope regarding poverty, hunger, human rights and (inaudible) Has it been so? (inaudible)
SG: I think all the Member States endorsed the summit outcome document. We have asked every country to come up with a poverty alleviation strategy to be able to lift the people out of poverty. We have encouraged the governments from the South to improve governance, to ensure transparency, fight against corruption and ensure that there are good regulatory systems that will encourage investment. At the same time, we have worked with the donor community to increase development assistance, which should increase by $50 billion by 2010, $25 billion of it concentrated on Africa and they have agreed on debt relief to the 18 highly-indebted countries and of course, we are working with them on trade issues and I hope in Hong Kong, some progress will be made when the WTO is organized in December. And so there are concrete achievements on that front, the development front. We are also pressing ahead with raising money for the fight against HIV/AIDS. Last month I chaired a pledging conference in London where we raised $3.6 billion for the fight against HIV/AIDS. And so on the ground, our offices -- whether it's UN Development Programme, UNICEF, World Food Programme –all the UN agencies will be active, working with governments on the ground to implement these schemes.
Q: I wanted to ask about the Pakistani relief efforts. Now obviously the UN agencies are involved. There is talk already of difficulties with coordination. Are you satisfied that as much as possible is being done to coordinate and are you also pleased with the way you are working with the Pakistani Government?
SG: Let me say that coordination is key in all these emergency relief operations. It is extremely difficult sometimes to set it up right from the beginning. I think things have improved. We have coordination teams on the ground working with the local authorities. We are attempting to coordinate international assistance and offers of assistance coming from outside. We have launched a flash appeal for $270 million to try and assist with urgent things. But we will try to do a much bigger appeal once we have made further assessment with the Pakistani Government and others concerned. I think that given the size and the magnitude of the earthquake things are going reasonably well. My people there today are not complaining about the lack of coordination with the government. The key coordination, the major coordination is being done by the Government. When I spoke to President Musharraf to offer my deepest condolences and assistance, he indicated that coordination is based in the Prime Minister's office and indicated the individual who was in charge. So my people are working very closely with them. Thank you.
Q: Do you believe that we are near a potential dangerous, very serious international crisis with Iran because of the nuclear programme?
SG: I hope not. I hope we have the vision and the wisdom all around to avoid another major crisis. I met the Iranian President last month when he was in New York for the General Assembly and I also talked to the EU 4, that is the three Foreign Ministers who are negotiating and Javier Solana, and we discussed this issue of the Iranian nuclear programme as well, and as I have also been discussing with the Head of the atomic agency. I hope we will find a way to keep negotiations and dialogue going, that we are able to get everybody back to the table to resume discussions and that we do not get to the crisis stage. For heaven's sake, we have enough problems and crises around the world, we do not need another one and we should do whatever we can to do this. Iran should cooperate with the Atomic Agency and everyone should be back at the table. I think that's the best way to resolve it. Thank you.