The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
New law in El Salvador will help “tens of thousands” of internally displaced people, says UN Refugee Agency
El Salvador’s new legislation to help people internally displaced by violence will help tens of thousands of people who have been displaced by gang violence and organized crime, the UN Refugee Agency said today.
“UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes El Salvador’s passage of legislation to protect, aid and offer durable solutions to people internally displaced in the Central American nation due to violence from organized crime and criminal gangs, as well as those who may be at risk of displacement,” spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell said.
“The legislation, passed by a resounding majority in El Salvador’s National Assembly on January 9, opens the door for tens of thousands of victims of forced displacement in the country to gain access to life-saving humanitarian assistance, and to have their basic rights restored, including effective access to justice,” she added. “ The law further provides for the establishment, for the first time, of a comprehensive national system that brings together a wide variety of State institutions to collaborate in responding to and preventing forced displacement.”
Once signed by President Nayib Bukele, the law would have a lasting positive impact on the lives of the 71,500 Salvadorans estimated to have been forcibly displaced between 2006 and 2016 within their country’s borders, the UN agency said. Tens of thousands more who are at risk of being forced to flee their homes would also be helped, Ms. Throssell said.
The text of the legislation on internal displacement, drafted with technical support from UNHCR, aligns with the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and with other international standards that describe the rights of internally displaced persons, including the right to request and receive humanitarian assistance, protection of family unity, an adequate standard of living and durable solutions. It also establishes mechanisms to allow those affected by internal displacement to protect and reclaim property they may have been forced to abandon in their flight.
The law reflects the growing momentum In Central America and beyond to recognize and respond to the phenomenon of internal displacement, according to UNHCR. In Honduras, where an estimated 247,000 people have been displaced by violence within their own country, the National Congress is considering legislation similar to the law passed in El Salvador. Mexico also recognizes the serious impact of internal displacement and has expressed its commitment to pass legislation on the issue at the federal level.
UNHCR reiterated its readiness to continue offering technical and operational assistance to the governments of Central America and Mexico to help them mitigate the causes and consequences of forced displacement, in line with their commitments as part of a regional alliance to provide comprehensive protection and solutions to the issue called the Comprehensive Regional Protection and Solutions Framework, known by its Spanish-language acronym, MIRPS.
The legislation in El Salvador comes in the context of a global push to find solutions for the millions of people around the globe who are internally displaced within the boundaries of their own countries.
Speaking to the media at the United Nations in Geneva, Throssell recalled that “in October, the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, established a High-level Panel on Internal Displacement to increase global attention and advance solutions for this issue which affects more than 40 million people worldwide due to conflict and violence.
- Wide shot: exterior, flag alley, Palais des Nations, United Nations Geneva.
- Wide shot, press briefing room
- Close-up, journalist
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Elizabeth Throssell, spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, welcomes El Salvador’s passage of legislation to protect, aid and offer durable solutions to people internally displaced in the Central American nation due to violence from organized crime and criminal gangs, as well as those who may be at risk of displacement.”
- Medium Shot, journalists
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Elizabeth Throssell, spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “The legislation, passed by a resounding majority in El Salvador’s National Assembly on January 9, opens the door for tens of thousands of victims of forced displacement in the country to gain access to life-saving humanitarian assistance, and to have their basic rights restored, including effective access to justice. The law further provides for the establishment, for the first time, of a comprehensive national system that brings together a wide variety of State institutions to collaborate in responding to and preventing forced displacement.”
- Close-up, journalist
- SOUNDBITE (EN) Elizabeth Throssell, spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR): “In October, the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, established a High-level Panel on Internal Displacement to increase global attention and advance solutions for this issue which affects more than 40 million people worldwide due to conflict and violence.”
- Medium shot: journalists typing
- Wide Shot podium
- Close-up, journalists
Similar Stories
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | HRC
Sudan crisis: Rights investigators demand arms embargo extension to end ‘rampant’ abuses
Top human rights investigators into Sudan’s brutal war called on Friday for a country-wide arms embargo as they recounted harrowing testimony of victims of horrific sexual attacks whose bodies are viewed as a “theatre of operation” by fighters acting with total impunity.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani provided the following update on the detained UN staff in Yemen, at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The human rights situation in Nicaragua has seriously deteriorated since last year, with increasing cases of arbitrary detentions, intimidation of opponents, ill-treatment in custody and attacks against Indigenous peoples, according to a report by the UN Human Rights Office released today.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNICEF
Gaza: UN humanitarian agencies ahead of their targets for polio vaccinations, says WHO
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that 161,030 children under 10 years of age had been vaccinated in central Gaza after the first two days of the UN-led mass vaccination campaign, surpassing the initial target of 156,000. The figure amounts to about a quarter of the total population needing to be reached - some 640,000 children.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
The UN-led mass polio vaccination campaign entered its second day in central Gaza on Monday with pauses in fighting holding sufficiently for thousands more children to receive their dose, in addition to the 87,000 who received their first round on Sunday, UN agencies said.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | WMO
We must do more to keep the air we breathe clean, says UN weather agency
Unchecked climate change, wildfires and air pollution continue to have “a spiralling, negative impact on health, ecosystems and agriculture”, with millions of deaths attributed to the dirty air we breathe, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.
According to a new report from the UN agency covering air quality and its impact on the climate, the first eight months of 2024 have seen no let-up in periods of intense heat and persistent droughts around the world, “fuelling the risk of wildfires and air pollution”.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani provided the following update on UN Human Rights Office work in Bangladesh at the bi-weekly press conference.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Humanitarian pauses in Gaza fighting will enable polio vaccine campaign to begin Sunday, says WHO
The United Nations has reached a tentative agreement with parties involved in the war in Gaza for humanitarian pauses to allow 640,000 children to be vaccinated amid an outbreak of the virus. According to UN World Health Organization (WHO) Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, the two-round vaccination campaign is due to begin on 1 September in central Gaza for three days, then move to the southern and northern areas. A second dose will be administered after four weeks.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva, Ravina Shamdasani Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights made the following comments on the recent adoption of the repressive law in Afghanistan.
1
1
2
Edited News | WHO , OCHA
In Gaza, repeated mass evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military are radically shrinking the space in which aid workers can operate and depriving war-weary Palestinians of desperately needed relief items and health care, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
27
1
1
Edited News | UNITED NATIONS
Geneva Conventions commemoration hears urgent call to respect laws of war
Seventy-five years since the ratification of the Geneva Conventions, a former child soldier-turned foreign minister of Sierra Leone urged greater international support for the key accords, highlighting their importance in rehabilitating him and tens of thousands of his fellow compatriots following the country’s bitter civil war.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNHCR , WHO
Aid teams cite huge challenges in tackling new Sudan cholera outbreak
Protecting war-weary people in Sudan from a second deadly cholera outbreak is proving a huge challenge for aid teams after more than 16 months of heavy fighting, combined with flooding and ongoing access obstacles, they reported on Friday.