UN GENEVA PRESS BRIEFING

13 May 2025

Deportations from the United States of America

Elizabeth Throssell, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that the recent deportations of large numbers of non-nationals from the United States of America, especially to countries other than those of their origin, raised a number of human rights concerns. According to official US data, between 20 January and 29 April, 142,000 individuals had been deported from the US. In particular, the fate and whereabouts of at least 245 Venezuelans and some 30 Salvadorans removed to El Salvador remained unclear. Many of them had been deported under the Alien Enemies Act as alleged members of specific criminal groups. They had reportedly been detained in the maximum-security “Centre for Terrorism Confinement” (CECOT) in El Salvador, a facility where detainees were treated particularly harshly, without access to legal counsel or their relatives, or other contact with the outside world.

The UN Human Rights Office had information from family members and lawyers regarding more than 100 Venezuelans believed to be held in CECOT. These reports indicated that many of the detainees had not been informed of the US Government’s intention to deport them to be held in a third country, that many had not had access to a lawyer and that they had been effectively unable to challenge the lawfulness of their removal before being flown out of the US. This situation raised serious concerns regarding a wide array of rights that are fundamental to both US and international law: rights to due process, to protection from arbitrary detention, to equality before the law, to protection from exposure to torture or other irreparable harm in other States, and to an effective remedy.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights welcomed the essential role that the US judiciary, legal community and civil society were playing to ensuring the protection of human rights in this context. He was calling on the US Government to take the necessary measures to ensure compliance with due process, to give prompt and full effect to the determinations of its courts, to safeguard the rights of children, and to stop the removal of any individual to any country where there is a real risk of torture or other irreparable harm.

Full statement is available here.

Answering questions from the media, Ms. Throssell said that the families of the deported men were highly distressed. There was a lot of uncertainty, and no definitive list of those detained in CECOT had been published by the El Salvadorian authorities, which raised significant human rights concerns. OHCHR had engaged with the authorities, requesting access to CECOT in order to ascertain conditions in which people were detained. There were also no official figures on how many people were detained in CECOT in total; estimates were in the tens of thousands. OHCHR staff had spoken to family members of some people believed to be held in CECOT. In some cases, individuals had been told hours before deportation that they were being sent to Venezuela, but once the plane had arrived in Venezuela, they were not there, adding to the overall uncertainty and distress among their families. OHCHR was engaging with both US and El Salvadorian authorities, reiterated Ms. Throssell.

On a question related to the resettlement of white South Africans in the US, Ms. Throssell said that OHCHR emphasized it was important to guarantee equitable access to protection, so that all individuals in need would be helped and live in dignity.

Continuing crackdown on government critics in Venezuela

Elizabeth Throssell, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that the detention and enforced disappearance of critics of the Venezuelan Government were continuing, fuelling a climate of fear. The High Commissioner for Human Rights called on the authorities to release immediately all those arbitrarily detained, and to ensure due process and fair trial standards are met. Since the 2024 election, human rights defenders, journalists and others perceived as dissident voices had been subjected to intimidation and persecution, limiting the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. Among the most recent cases of concern was that of Eduardo Torres, a lawyer with the Venezuelan Education-Action Program on Human Rights, who according to credible information, had been arrested on his way home in Caracas on 9 May. His relatives reported being unable to contact him and remained unaware of his whereabouts. OHCHR continued to be concerned by conditions of detention, in particular lack of access to adequate food and health care. The Office had verified the deaths of at least three Government critics held in custody since July 2024. These cases had to be fully and independently investigated.

OHCHR press release can be accessed here.

There was one international OHCHR staff member currently in Venezuela and another 15 staff covering Venezuela from an office in Panama, specified Ms. Throssell responding to a question.

Health situation in Gaza

Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, World Health Organization (WHO) representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, connecting from Gaza, said that the risk of famine in Gaza was increasing with the deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid, including food, in the ongoing blockade. The latest food security analysis by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) partnership showed the entire 2.1 million population of Gaza was facing prolonged food shortages, with nearly half a million people in a catastrophic situation of hunger, acute malnutrition, starvation, illness and death. This was one of the world’s worst hunger crises, unfolding in real time before everyone’s eyes. Since the start of the aid blockade on 2 March 2025, 57 children had reportedly died from the effects of malnutrition, according to the Ministry of Health. If the situation persisted, nearly 71,000 children under the age of five were expected to be acutely malnourished over the next eleven months.

People in Gaza were caught up in a dangerous vicious cycle, with no safety, access to food, safe drinking water, medicine or vaccinations. The effects of malnutrition on children could last a lifetime; an entire generation could be permanently affected. Before the current conflict, the rates of child malnutrition among children and pregnant women had been minimal. The aid blockade and shrinking humanitarian access continued to undermine WHO’s ability to support 16 outpatient and three inpatient malnutrition treatment centres with life-saving supplies, and to sustain the broader health system. The remaining supplies in WHO’s stocks inside Gaza were only enough to treat 500 children with acute malnutrition, just a fraction of the urgent need.

He further explained that three WHO trucks of medicine and essential supplies had been deployed from the south to the north of Gaza. Kamal Adwan Hospital visited by Dr. Peeperkorn saw some 300 children per day for screening, of whom more than ten percent showed signs of acute malnutrition. The WHO stocks were dwindling, and consequently medical centres across Gaza were running out of necessary essential supplies and medicine, leading to otherwise completely preventable infections. Talking to people in the north, Dr. Peeperkorn said that they had still expressed hope for the future; there was nowhere safe to go and they did not want to leave again. They said that they did not want to be let down by the world once again.

Answering a question on this morning’s Israeli attack on the Nasser medical complex, Dr. Peeperkorn said that two fatalities and over a dozen injuries had been reported. The attack had led to a loss of a number of hospital beds. WHO was regularly raising the safety of healthcare facilities and entry of humanitarian supplies in its contacts with the Israeli authorities. Half a million of people were at risk of starvation, reiterated Dr. Peeperkorn. If people were not to die from starvation, they could also die from diseases that came from exhaustion and decreased immunity. If the current situation persisted, an estimated 71,000 children under the age of five would become acutely malnourished over next 11 months.

Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), informed that at 3 pm New York time today, the Security Council would hold a session on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question. Tom Fletcher, UN Humanitarian Coordinator, would brief the Council.

Concerns over the draft Code of Criminal Procedure in Egypt

Thameen Al-Kheetan, for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), said that the OHCHR had closely followed the passage of Egypt’s new Code of Criminal Procedure, recently approved by the House of Representatives and now pending presidential approval. OHCHR had raised concerns over provisions of the law that would grant public prosecutors broad discretionary powers related to pre-trial detention, interception of communications, and travel bans. The law would also provide for other measures adversely impacting the right to effective legal representation, and on accountability for the conduct of public officials, including law enforcement personnel. OHCHR called on the President of Egypt to consider carefully the proposed Criminal Procedure Code in light of these concerns prior to granting any assent, in order to ensure that it fully complied with Egypt’s international human rights obligations.

The statement is available here.

Impact of foreign aid cuts on women's organizations in humanitarian crises

Sofia Calltorp, head of UN Women Office in Geneva, stated that the new report “At a Breaking Point: The Impact of Foreign Aid Cuts on Women’s Organizations in Humanitarian Crises Worldwide” was being launched today.

Ms. Calltorp said that in every crisis, women-led and women’s rights organizations stepped up. They delivered life-saving assistance, defend rights, and support their communities—often under immense pressure and with scarce resources. Without them, humanitarian responses were less inclusive and less effective. The new report highlighted that many women’s organizations were now being stretched to the brink. They were being asked to do more, with less, and in some cases, with almost nothing at all. Ninety percent of the 411 women’s organizations that UN Women had surveyed had been financially impacted, with nearly half expecting to shut down within six months if current conditions persisted. Seventy-two percent had already had to lay off staff. Fifty-one percent had already suspended or terminated programmes. The impacts for women and girls in crises were already being catastrophic, with essential services being scaled back.

In Afghanistan, more than half of women’s organizations said that programmes for women were directly affected. This included the closure of health facilities, forcing women and girls to walk for hours just to access basic care. In Ukraine, over 70 percent of women’s organizations reported major disruptions, and many had already suspended shelters, legal aid, and trauma support for survivors. Ms. Calltorp asked how we could meaningfully support locally led responses without financially backing the organizations best positioned to lead them. How could we advance gender equality in crisis response without resourcing the women’s organizations driving that work every day? The new report was clear about what women’s organizations were asking for: a seat at the table when funding decisions were made; stronger advocacy from the international community to protect gender equality financing; support in building coalitions, strengthening organizational capacity; and sustaining their work in increasingly challenging environments. Those were not unrealistic demands, concluded Ms. Calltorp.

More information is available here.

Responding to questions from the media, Ms. Calltorp said that the report did not focus on any specific donors, but on the resilience and the needs of women organizations. Any funding cuts to UN Women affected their ability to reach women and girls in need.

Announcements

Zeina Awad, for the International Labour Organization (ILO), informed that governments, employers, and worker representatives from 187 countries would gather at the Palais des Nations for the 113^th International Labour Conference, from 2 to 13 June. Among the many topics on the ILC agenda would be: protection against biological hazards at work; decent work in the platform economy; and innovative approaches to tackling informality and promoting formal work. Further discussions would cover the reports of the Chairperson of the Governing Body and of the Director-General, including the situation of workers in the occupied Arab territories, and the Draft Programme and Budget proposals for 2026–27. The second edition of the Global Coalition for Social Justice Annual Forum would take place on 12 June. All details on the ILC can be found here.

Mr. Awad also informed that on 28 May, from 10 to 11 am, the ILO Director-General, Gilbert Houngbo, would hold a working breakfast for the Geneva press corps.

Finally, Ms. Awad said that on 20 May the ILO would be issuing a comprehensive new report on how generative AI was transforming the world of work. Interviews with the report authors could be arranged in advance.

Margaret Harris, for the World Health Organization (WHO), informed that on 15 May at 2 pm, WHO would hold a press conference at the Palais des Nations to launch World Health Statistics 2025. Speakers would be Dr. Samira Asma, Assistant Director-General for Data, Analytics and Delivery for Impact, and Dr. Haidong Wang, Unit Head, Health Data and Analytics.

Alessandra Vellucci, for the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), informed that the Committee on the Rights of the Child was concluding this morning its review of the report of Norway. Indonesia, Iraq, Romania, Qatar, and Brazil were also to be reviewed.

Finally, Ms. Vellucci said that the UN Secretary-General was in Berlin today to participate in the Peacekeeping Ministerial meeting, where he was joined by the Under-Secretaries General for Peace Operations, Operational Support and Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance. The Secretary-General would deliver keynote remarks on the future of peacekeeping at 1 pm today; the event was being webcast live at webtv.un.org. The Secretary-General would meet with the new German Chancellor and a number of other leaders attending the Ministerial; a joint press conference by Secretary-General Guterres and Chancellor Merz was expected on 14 May – the link would be provided to the media soon.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

• ILO - Zeina Awad:

- International Labour Conference from 2 to 13 June
- DG briefing with journalists over breakfast on 28 May

TOPICS

• UN WOMEN - Sofia Calltorp:

- At a Breaking Point: The Impact of Foreign Aid Cuts on Women
- Organizations in Humanitarian Crises Worldwide

• OHCHR - Liz Throssell:

- US: Türk raises human rights concerns about deportations
- Venezuela: Continuing crackdown on Government critics in Venezuela

• WHO - Margaret Harris with Rik Peeperkorn, WHO - representative in the occupied Palestinian territory

- Health situation

• OHCHR - Thameen Al-Kheetan:

- Egypt: Concerns over the draft Code of Criminal Procedure