Good morning, everyone, and welcome to this hybrid press briefing of the UN Information Service on Tuesday the 10th of August.
Some very interesting topics for you today.
Before we get right into it, let me just give the floor to Catalin Risu from from UNCTAD for a very quick announcement.
Set conference the production.
So so for home or participate.
Now moving to our next topic, Ravina Samdazani from the Office of the **** Commissioner for Human Rights is here to talk about Afghanistan and the human rights situation there.
You will be aware of the important briefing that our Deborah Lyons, the Special Representative of the Secretary General for Afghanistan and head of the UN mission in the country, that's UNAMA, did on Friday to the Security Council.
Umm, I mean, she was, uh, you know, very explicit in her, in her, uh, briefing that, uh, recently the war in Afghanistan, she said, has entered a new deadlier and more destructive phase.
Uh She said that the Taliban campaign during June and July to capture rural areas has achieved significant territorial gains, and that from this strengthened position they have begun to attack large, larger cities.
She noted this is a clear attempt by the Taliban to seize urban centres with the force of arms.
UMM She stressed that the Secur Security Council must issue an unambiguous statement that attacks against cities must stop now and that member states should contribute to the severely underfunded humanitarian appeal in Afghanistan.
She also emphasised that members of the regional and international community must put aside their differences on the question of Afghanistan and send a strong signal that is essential to stop fighting and negotiate in that order.
Otherwise, she said, there will be nothing left to win.
Umm, so on that, let's hear from Ravina and the human rights situation.
You will have received a press release in your inboxes around 9:10 today.
I think it is long, but I think it's important for for me to read it out in its entirety.
Actually, there are some key messages from the **** Commissioner and some information that we've managed to document in spite of the security constraints.
Bachelet is urging action to prevent calamitous consequences for the people of Afghanistan.
Failure to stem the rising violence and the Commission of human rights violations and abuses is having disastrous consequences for the people of Afghanistan.
Civilian casualties are continuing to mount and reports of violations that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity continue to emerge.
We all know that urban warfare results in scores of civilians being killed.
We have seen it before too many times in Afghanistan, since the 9th of July, in four cities alone, and these are Lashkar Ghar, Kandahar, Hirat and Kunduz, at least 183 civilians have been killed and 1181 have been injured, including children.
These are just the civilian casualties that we have managed to document.
Then the real figures will be much higher.
There are reports of people who of course are burying their loved ones immediately without taking them to hospitals and that then becomes difficult for us to document.
There are also a large number of injured people, some of whom may succumb to their injuries, especially given the the difficulties on healthcare facilities.
Even before the latest Taliban military offensives on urban centres, the UN had already documented a steep increase in civilian casualties.
The **** Commissioner stresses that parties to the conflict must stop fighting to prevent more bloodshed.
The Taliban must seize their military operations in cities and unless all parties return to the negotiating table and reach a peaceful settlement, the already atrocious situation for so many Afghans will become much worse.
Bachelet has also urged states all states to use their influence bilaterally and multilaterally to bring the hostilities to an end.
States have a duty to use any leverage they have to de escalate the situation and to reinvigorate the peace process.
The fighting must be brought to an end.
There are peace related meetings taking place this week in Doha.
According to reports documented by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, UMA and our office, most of the civilian harm is being caused by ground engagements.
In addition, since the start of the May Taliban offensive, at least 241,000 people have been displaced, and the protracted fighting in the cities has resulted in damage to essential infrastructure like roads and bridges and other civilian objects.
The situation in the southern city of Lashkar Ghar, the capital of Helmand province, starkly demonstrates the harrowing impact that hostilities in urban areas have on civilians.
In only 13 days since the 28th of July, when the fighting started in the city, the UN has received reports of at least 139 civilians killed and 481 injured.
And the real numbers, as I said, are expected to be much higher, as communication with the city is intermittently cut off and many civilians wounded by the fighting are unable to reach hospitals.
By the 5th of August, already hospitals were nearly at full capacity.
On the 31st of July, a private clinic was significantly damaged by an Afghan National Army air strike, leaving one civilian dead and five injured.
The available food supply in the city is fast diminishing and shortages of medical supplies have also been reported.
Electricity and water were cut off in most parts of the city.
The sweeping takeover of an estimated 192 district administrative centres by the Taliban.
The attacks on provincial capitals including Kala El NAO, Kandahar, Nashka, Ghar, Hirat, Faizabad, Ghazni, Maimana, Gardez, Faizabad, Puli Kumbri and Bazaari Sharif, and the takeover of at least 6 provincial capitals.
Shaber Khan in Jawazjaan province, Kunduz city in Kunduz province, Talukan in Takar province, Saripol in Saripol province and Ebag in Samangan province have struck fear and dread into the population.
We warn that the proliferation of pro government militia being mobilised against the Taliban may also put civilians in additional danger in the areas that have already been captured by the Taliban and in contested areas.
The offices receiving reports of summary executions, attacks against current and former government officials and their family members, military use and destruction of homes, schools and clinics, and the laying of large numbers of IEDs, improvised explosive devices, including pressure plate IEDs which function as anti personnel land mines.
The UN is also receiving other deeply disturbing reports of serious violations of international humanitarian law, such as killings by the Taliban of order combat members of Afghan security forces, in some cases after they had even received letters guaranteeing their safety upon surrendering.
Orders issued by members of the local Afghan National Police not to spare captured or surrendering Taliban members are also prohibited under international humanitarian law.
**** Commissioner Michelle Bachelet reminds all parties of their obligation to take all necessary measures to protect civilians, especially when fighting in populated areas.
Directing attacks against civilians is a serious violation of international humanitarian law and amounts to a war crime.
Perpetrators of these serious violations must be held accountable.
The **** Commissioner has also expressed particular concern about early indications that the Taliban are imposing severe restrictions on human rights in areas under their control, particularly targeting women.
We received reports that women and girls in various districts under Taliban control are prohibited from leaving their home without a mahram male chaperone.
These restrictions have a serious impact on the rights of women, including the right to health, and clearly, in the midst of a war, the need to access urgent medical care for themselves and their families is a matter of life and death.
Hampering a woman's ability to leave her home without a male escort also inevitably leads to a cascade of other violations of the woman's own human rights and her family's economic and social rights.
In several locations, the Taliban have reportedly threatened that violations of these rules would result in harsh punishments, and there are already reports of women having been flogged and beaten in public because they breached the prescribed rules.
In one case in Balkh province on the 3rd of August, a women's rights activist was shot and killed for breaching the rules.
Serious curbs on the freedom of expression and the ability of journalists to do their crucial work by both parties are also of deep concern during this time of uncertainty and chaos.
**** Commissioner Michelle Bachelet says the people of Afghanistan are Speaking of their deep fears of a return to the worst of the human rights violations of the past.
Women, minorities, human rights defenders, journalists as well as others who are particularly vulnerable, need particular protection.
There are very real risks of renewed atrocities against ethnic and religious minorities.
We will continue to monitor the human rights situation in spite of the security and other challenges.
And the **** Commissioner urges the international community, including through the Human Rights Council and the Security Council, to take urgent action to prevent further atrocities and to ensure that civilians in Afghanistan do not once again have to bear the brunt and the aftermath of a prolonged and deadly conflict.
Thank you very much, Havina.
And I think the **** Commissioner's appeal have also been echoed by the Secretary General and the Security Council, condemning very strongly the attacks on civilians and and calling for a ceasefire.
And I think just yesterday there was also a strong statement by the Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, which I think was shared with you by with you by by OCHA are also deploring the killings and the injuries caused to innocent civilians caught in the crossfire of of what's happening in Afghanistan today.
Are there any questions on this issue?
We have a question from is there someone in the room?
We have Nick coming Bruce from the New York time wishing to ask a question.
I wondered what contacts you can say the UN mission in human rights team in Kabul have had directly with the Taliban on these particular concerns.
I mean, clearly they are in touch in terms of the detail of their reporting on use of improvised minds.
But I'm assuming there's been contact on the broader spectrum of human rights abuses and concerns.
And I'm wondering what that contact, how much contact you've had and what that has yielded.
So, so the UN, various parts of the UN have have their own contacts with the the parties to the conflict, including the Taliban.
From the human rights side, we have had a continuous human rights dialogue there.
There is a kind of mechanism in place for the human rights division in UNAMA to, to be conducting a human rights dialogue, including with Taliban representatives and that is continuing.
So we are able to put these violations to them as well.
Yeah, I might just add Nick on that.
I mean, umm, Deborah Lyons as the secretary general, special Representative, uh, and head of the mission obviously is, uh, in dealing with this whole peace process, trying to get it underway again.
So I'm sure that she is, uh, at, uh, having umm, meetings at very **** level, uh, exactly her con, her con her, her contacts with the Taliban.
And I can't say for sure, we'd have to check with our colleague at the UNAMA, uh, but of course, umm, the UN mission in Afghanistan is, is a civilian organisation that's there to be impartial and also assist on human rights issues, development issues, and especially peace efforts as well.
Umm, until there are about 20 development and humanitarian UN entities in Afghanistan addition to the, to the mission.
It tries to continue doing its work as best as it can under the current conditions, but it is there to help the people of Afghanistan as best as possible.
I see we also have a question from Gabriela Sotomayor or maybe wait a second, we have Nick again, so maybe he has a follow up question and then we'll take Gabriela.
Yeah, I just wanted to check the what kind of response you've had from Taliban on specific issues.
I mean, you mentioned for example, the killing of a woman rights activist in Balt on the 3rd of August when these issues are raised with the Taliban.
What kind of engagement do you get and what kind of response have you had?
I mean, on their response, I'm afraid I, I can't speak for them.
What we do is we put the information that we gather the, our analysis on, you know, on the basis of international human rights law and international humanitarian law to them.
And that's, I think that's all I can say on that.
Our job is to stay as real said and to continue to monitor the situation on the ground and to make it clear publicly that we are still watching.
We are still monitoring the behaviour of the parties to the conflict and the behaviour of the Taliban where they are in control already on the the people who are living under their control.
We are continuing to monitor, we're continuing to push as well for the fighting to stop, for there to be a return to peace negotiations this week.
There are several opportunities, several multilateral dialogues that are going on in Doha.
And of course, we are also pushing for accountability.
These kinds of violations should not go unaddressed and there cannot be continued impunity for them.
So that's all I can tell you really about the interaction with the Taliban.
Let's go to Gabriella Sotomayor.
Thank you for taking my question.
Nice to see you, Ravina, Andrea.
Ravina, do you think that the government has the capacity to offer the protection that is needed for activists and journalists and also on women activists and journalists, they are in greater danger.
So if you can elaborate on the activists who was field is it did you listen?
She's just going to answer it.
I got your question and then I thought you said something else.
So I was picking up my my earpiece again.
So your first question was on the the protection.
The state has a duty to ensure protection of people, you know, in their jurisdiction where the government has control of territory.
It is very important that there be an understanding that there are communities that are particularly vulnerable.
There are minority communities, women in particular, human rights defenders and journalists.
They have been facing attacks even before this latest Taliban push.
I would refer you to the protection of civilians report that UNAMA put out.
I believe it was just a few weeks ago, two or three weeks ago.
And I can forward that to you in that there are a lot of details about how human rights defenders, journalists and other vulnerable communities were already under attack even before this latest push.
And these were attacks really by both sides, both by the Taliban side and by by the state.
So it is crucial that the state does what it can, what's within its power to ensure that these vulnerable people are protected.
And of course, the Taliban, as I said, also has a duty in the areas under their control to ensure that there is no reprisals against journalists for doing that job.
Now, unfortunately, we are already seeing that some radio stations have stopped broadcasting and there are serious curbs on the freedom of expression in these areas.
The other responsibility that I would highlight and our colleagues in UNHCR might have more to say about this, is people who are fleeing Afghanistan.
There is also a duty among other Member States not only to use all their leverage to bring the fighting to an end, to bring a return to to the peace table, but also to ensure that those who are in need of protection receive this protection.
There's a question from Bai Ramal Tung Anadolu, good morning, good to see you again.
As **** Commissioner, Bachelor urged all states to use their reference, but we have not seen a single country mentioned in the long statement.
So which countries can play a key role in ending violence in Afghanistan?
And finally, I'm just wondering, could the USA withdrawal from Afghanistan be reason for the current situation?
On which countries can play a key role, there are so many.
I mean really we are saying any state and all states that have some leverage, this could be economic leverage, political leverage, all sorts.
There are countries in the region that are immediately affected as well.
There are countries beyond which, as the SRSG has said as well, this is not just a conflict in Afghanistan, but it has the potential to have serious repercussions across the region and also internationally.
So really it's in the interests of all member states to come together and use whatever leverage and influence they have, whether it's in the Security Council, whether it's in the Human Rights Council or bilaterally or in the course of this week during the that are taking place in Doha.
I understand there are various combinations of states that are meeting this week with representatives of the Taliban and with representatives of the government.
So it is we're urging them to to ensure that these meetings yield results on the US withdrawal.
Listen, I'm not going to get into the the politics of the situation, but as I've said, what is important is that every state uses whatever leverage they have to bring this conflict to an end, whatever influence they have that Afghanistan needs to stop being used, you know, for other political purposes.
And really that's focus on the situation, the very dire situation of civilians on the ground.
We've already documented 183 civilians.
But we do fear that this is really just the tip of the iceberg, the 1181 who have already been documented to be injured.
We don't know how many of them might succumb to their injuries.
People are living in fear and dread.
Women are already being, you know, killed and shot for breaching rules that have been imposed on their what they can wear and on where they can move without a male escort.
It's time for the international community to prioritise peace in Afghanistan.
And I just said, I mean, regional countries obviously have a a very key role in, in helping to stabilise the situation in Afghanistan because as you said, Ravenna, they have the lots to be concerned about in turn, including refugee flows, migration.
So the UN is really appealing to these countries in the area to increase their political diplomacy and Economic Cooperation to see to see how they could move the process forward.
Of course, the UNAMA, the UN mission in Afghanistan is also one of its its priorities is also to support this regional cooperation.
And it is giving direct support to the secretary general's personal envoy on Afghanistan and regional issues, Jean Arnoux.
You know, if you who is working very hard to foster this regional consensus in support of peace talks and implementation of an eventual political agreement.
James, you seem to be unmuted.
We have a couple of more questions.
Ahmed from United Arab Emirates News.
Good morning, Ravina, One of the international collation Germany announced that there is a need for a military intervention.
Do you think that the kind of intervention can help to stop this deterioration in Afghanistan now?
We, we don't usually comment on military operations, on the conduct.
We, we comment on the conduct of hostilities, what the **** Commissioner is calling for and then what the SRSG has also called for, in fact, is for the fighting to stop for the international community, states regionally, internationally, the Security Council, the Human Rights Council, to all speak with one voice for the fighting to stop to, to limit the civilian harm to what has already really been unacceptable levels, to limit that from, from being carried forward any further.
And that is what we're asking for, for a return to the peace negotiations and for the fighting to stop.
Let's try James Keaton again, see if we can get him on.
I just wanted to go back to Byrams question, Ravina, if I could about, I mean, over the years when there was an international presence, you know, there was some improvement in the condition for women in particular, for example, you know, rights were insured, they were allowed to go to school and whatnot.
And I'm just wondering if you see any, if it's just a coincidence that you see these greater human rights violations returning to Afghanistan right now just as the international troops are are pulling out or is there some sort of correlation that one can establish between the two of those things?
It's clearly no coincidence that these human rights violations have returned.
The Taliban is imposing these restrictions on women, these very, you know, unacceptable human rights violations, which which, as I said, will lead to another cascade of human rights violations.
When you take away a woman's freedom of movement, you are limiting her ability to to be of use to her family, even when you've got family members who may have been critically injured in the course of the conflict.
Being able to take a wounded child to a hospital without a male escort is not possible.
I mean, this is unacceptable.
Coincidence is certainly, certainly not correct.
The Taliban is actively imposing these rules on the communities that it is controlling.
Yeah, no, on, on the geopolitical context.
Listen, I, I it's not our role to get into the politics of the situation.
We are conducting the human rights monitoring.
There have been seriously rising civilian casualties even over the first half of this year.
In fact, in May and June, Unima's documentation of civilian casualties reached a new ****.
So ever since they've started documenting, May and June are the highest Mays and Junes ever.
So the number of civilian casualties has already been mounting and now it's reached a level that that could be calamitous.
We are asking for all states to use all their influence to bring this fighting to an end and to ensure that the people of Afghanistan do not suffer further.
Whether you are in the country or not in the country, it doesn't take away your responsibility as part of the international community to ensure the protection of these vulnerable communities, including the women of Afghanistan.
And we have one final question from Gabriella.
I think you may want to come back on previous issues.
This is another subject if may I ask the question on Mexico.
The Jalisco Nueva Generacion Cartel threatened to **** Mexican journalist Azuzena Uresti and also attack other media such as El Universal, Millennium and Televisa.
We know that cartel death threats are very serious, so I would like to know what is the role of the government in this situation?
Should they offer protection to the journalists or what what they do say they should do?
I'm not aware of the specific ****** that you're talking about.
I'll have to check with colleagues in our Mexico office who I'm sure are very closely following this.
As you know, they do very closely follow attacks against human rights defenders and the situation of journalists in Mexico, which has been worrying for for for a long time now on this specific one, let me get back to you.
Generally, of course, it is the duty of the state to ensure freedom of expression and this includes the ability of journalists to be able to do their job.
Where there are serious risks and serious imminent threats against a journalist, it is the duty of the state to ensure that they do what it what they can to take measures to ensure the protection of the journalists.
But on this specific one, I'll see if I can find out more and get back to you.
Thank you very much, Havina.
So thank you for being with us this morning on this extremely important topic.
And we will obviously continue to monitor the the situation in Afghanistan very, very closely and keep updating you as we have more information.
We're going to move along now to the World Food Programme with Thompson Ferry, who is joining us this morning with Michael Dunford, the World Food Programme Corporate Response Director for Tigre Emergencies.
He is joining us from online from Nairobi for an update on Tigre while we get Mr Dunford online.
Mr Dunford, do you want to say anything more before we get into the we can go straight to go go straight into.
So Mr Dunford, good morning, welcome and please go ahead.
Thanks very much everyone and good morning to you.
My name is Michael Dunford, I'm WFP's Regional Director in for the Eastern Africa region and also as indicated, I'm the Corporate response Director for WFP's response in Tigre.
I hope that you've now got a copy of the operational update.
We're pleased to announce that in the second round, WFP has now reached over 1,000,000 people, which is a huge achievement under the circumstances.
I really wanted to paint this morning a picture of the challenges that we are facing trying to roll out what is a massive logistics undertaking trying to feed the population of Tigray and to also support support the broader humanitarian response.
WFP needs to feed in this round 1.6 million.
So although we've made achievements and although we're making progress, we're not yet at our target and the challenges are that we need to move.
We estimate 30,000 metric tonnes of commodities every month.
When you break that down, it's either 6 to 7000 metric tonnes a week, which translates for WFP alone to 30 to 40 trucks.
We estimate that the humanitarian response requires 100 trucks a day, and if you were to imagine what that looks like, it's a convoy of trucks moving up the road from Samara to Mckelly over a range of five to seven kilometres.
We are now moving our fifth convoy in the last week to 10 days.
So progress is being made.
So what we really are needing is a far more systematic means of operating.
We need to ensure that there's good coordination amongst all of the stakeholders who are involved, including the central authorities, the regional authorities.
We have had challenges across that road.
There are a number of different checkpoints that are requiring that the trucks be stopped, be scanned.
We've had challenges even with scanning machines breaking down and this is putting enormous pressure on the ability of WFP and others to deliver into Mckelly at this stage.
So what we are doing is echoing the call of the emergency response coordinator Martin Griffiths last week, we are asking all sides to cease the conflict and we need to establish a humanitarian corridor which will allow large scale logistics operations, moving commodities, be it food, health or Watson equipment into the location to meet the needs of the population.
You know, as I said, WFP needs to reach 1.6 million this month.
In the next round we need to take that up to 2.1 million.
And unless we have all sides collaborating, cooperating, trying to facilitate this humanitarian access, it's going to be an extremely challenging undertaking.
You're familiar, I'm sure, with the statistics that have been shared already.
There are 400,000 people in IPC 5.
There's another 4 million people in Ipcs 3 and 4.
These people are extremely vulnerable, extremely vulnerable.
We're now in the wet season.
There's going to be an increase in waterborne diseases.
We're going to see incidents of diarrhoea, cholera and others.
And unless all of us are able to put the humanitarian response together as required, we are going to see an increase in morbidity and mortality.
And so we're calling upon all sides to facilitate the ability of all humanitarian actors to operate as required.
The final call that I'm making is the WFP requires $79 million to continue our operation through until the end of the year.
The the needs are increasing because of displacement in regions bordering Tigray.
In Afara and Amhara, we're going to be required to support potentially up to another 300,000.
So the demands are going up, the challenges remain and unless all actors facilitate a large scale systematic operation, we will not be able to meet the requirements of the populations who are affected.
So perhaps I'll stop there and open to questions as required.
Thank you very much, Mr Dunford, for this briefing.
Do we have any questions in the room?
Then we'll take a question from Robin Millard from AFP Online.
We've, we've heard lots of talk about the need to get 100 trucks a day flowing into Mckelly.
So it sounds like things are beginning to ease up a little like you're getting more trucks through.
What happens once they get to Mckelly because because Tigray is a huge region.
I mean, do the, do the trucks then fan out?
I mean, I'm, I'm assuming here that getting material to Tigre is not the end goal.
It then has to go, sorry, to get material to Mckelly.
It then has to go to other places.
How does, how does that happen?
You know, typically we'll move it into a central location either in Mckelly or into Shiray.
And then from there, we're using secondary transport to move it further into various widers and into the outer regions.
You know, a huge undertaking this.
We have almost 30,000 metric tonnes of warehousing capacity in Mckelly alone.
We're working with teams of loaders to move commodities.
All of this is coming in 50 kilogramme bags.
But in addition to the trucking capacity, we also need the fuel.
And we estimate that we need probably 3 tankers or 150,000 litres of fuel moving from Samara into Mckelly and then outwards throughout the region on a weekly basis.
So it's not just the food itself.
As you rightly point out, Mckelly is not the end destination.
It's to those warriors where the populations are, and they're the ones that we're trying to reach over.
Are there any other questions for Mr Dunford and WFPI?
So thank you very much, Mr Dunford, for being with us this morning, and we'll look forward to hearing again from you in future.
Thank you, Thompson, for being with us as well.
We'll continue with Tigre.
But on the topic of refugees, so we have Boris Chesharkov from the refugee Agency with us this morning who will tell you about how the agency has regained access to the Tigre refugee camps.
So let's hear from Boris on this.
Good morning Boris, nice to see you.
Good morning Rael, good to be in the room and good morning everyone.
Indeed, we we pick up from where WFP left off and continue with with Tigre and Ethiopia.
UNHCR regains access to Tigre refugee camps.
This is what we would like to share with you.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and its partners have regained access to the Maiyaani and Adi Karush camps for Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia's Tigre region.
Violent clashes in the area had prevented UNHCR staff from reaching the camps since 13th of July.
The delivery of urgently needed assistance restarted on the 5th of August for the 23,000 refugees in both camps.
However, access is limited by a complex and fluid security situation, and refugees continue to face dire conditions.
Basic services such as healthcare remain unavailable and clean drinking water is running out.
UNHCR is calling for safe passage, which will allow refugees from My Anime and Adi Karush to be moved to the new site of Alim Watch, which is near Dhaba town, some 135 kilometres away.
In the past week, and you've also heard it from WFP, humanitarian access into Tigray has improved and UNHCR staff and 12 trucks carrying emergency aid have reached McKellar, the region's capital.
Unhindered access into Tigray and throughout the region must be insured by all parties to the conflict to allow UNHCR and our partners to deliver and scale up life saving humanitarian assistance and protection to the 10s of thousands in dire need of urgent support.
UNHCR is appealing for 164.5 million United States dollars to assist 96,000 Eritrean refugees and 650,000 internally displaced people in Ethiopia's Tigray region and up to 120,000 Ethiopian refugees in Eastern Sudan.
UNHCR continues to call on parties to the conflict to protect civilians in line with their obligations under international humanitarian law and request safe and unhindered access to reach all those in need.
There are more details in our note and I'll leave it there and would welcome questions.
I see we have a question from Anyes Federer, AFP online.
Yes, good morning everybody.
I have a question about this press release.
You, you said that you unit here has regained access to those two camps, mine and me and Adia rush camps.
I wanted to know if there are how many other camps they are in the Tigray region and if you also have access to them or not.
And yes, we, we do now have access to my idea.
Nadika Rush, these are the two camps were Atrian refugees in the southern part of Tigray.
There were two other camps hits US and Shamelba in the north part of the region, which were destroyed and looted at the beginning of the year.
And we have been able to identify now quite a number of those refugees that had fled the 2 northern camps.
Some of them we've found in Addis.
And in fact, one of the positive developments as of this week is in, in fact, since August 4th, UNHCR and Arra, which is the Ethiopian Refugee and Returnee Affairs Agency, along with a non governmental partner WISE.
We've been beginning to register Eritrean refugees in Addis Abeba, which is a first for us.
And they are being issued with identity documents that will last for three years and give them access to valuable assistance and protection.
I think we have a follow up question from Anyes.
So Anyes go ahead and then Antonio Brotto from FA will ask a question as well.
Yes, so, so you say that you have access now to those two sides and that two others were destroyed at the beginning of the year.
But then when you are talking about the new site of Aranvath or Aranvath, I don't know how to to say it.
Is it a new camp or what is it exactly?
Indeed, the this is a new site, Alan Watch.
And this is how my colleagues have helped me to pronounce it.
But it is located in the bat, the bat town or very close by.
This is in Ethiopia's Al Mahara region, so it is not in Tigray.
And we are asking for all parties to the conflict to seize hostility cities and allow safe passage so that we are able to relocate refugees that are right now in Mayani and Nadi Karush, those two camps in the South of Tigray where the security situation remains fluid and complex and they are lacking access to urgently needed services, including health.
And we're also quite concerned that drinking clean, drinking water is running low and may run out.
All right, then we have a question from FA Antonio.
This is also a question to clarify, try to clarify the press release.
So is this the first time that the UNHCR has access to refugee camps in the rise since the beginning of the conflict?
Good morning, Antonio, and thank you for that.
We have had access to Maya Ayni and Adi Karush for most of this situation which which began in late 2020.
Where we had, we didn't have access for a very long time was Quitsos and Shamelba.
These are the two destroyed camps in the north of Tigray.
We had regained access in the spring and we were able to confirm what was already suspected that those two sites were destroyed for Ayani and Adi Karush.
Those two sides were on the 13th of July.
We lost access because of volatile security situation and and clashes that were happening in the area.
We have now been able to regain this access and that's a positive development alongside the fact that we're now able to get some of the assistance into Tigray, which is urgently needed for so many displaced.
That includes the Eritrean refugees in these two camps, but also the internally displaced population.
Are there any other questions for Boris on this issue?
Boris, it's been a pleasure to have you this morning at the briefing and we'll surely have you again soon.
OK, just to some final announcements for you.
Today at 4:00 PM, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the SURD, will start reviewing the report of Lebanon.
This review will end tomorrow afternoon from 4:00 PM onwards.
And then next Thursday on the 12th of August at 3:00 PM, the Conference on Disarmament will be holding a discussion on youth and disarmament.
The 12th of August is International Youth Day, and plenary speakers will be Miss Izumi Nagamitsu, the Under Secretary General and **** Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Miss Jayatma Vikramanayake, United Nations Secretary General's Envoy on Youth, as well as three youth disarmament champions.
So this is this Thursday, and I thought I'd mention, because you may be interested in this today in New York, the special envoy on on Myanmar, Miss Christine Schreiner Bergener, will be briefing on the record at 10 AM New York Times.
So that's about 4:00 PM Geneva.
If you want to watch it, you can watch it on webtv.un.org.
And she will be updating on the situation in that country.
And I think that's all I have for you.
Just wanted to check the third meeting is, I assume that's virtual, but are there by any chance third people actually in Geneva meeting in the flesh these days?
Normally my colleagues put if it put down, indicate if it's a virtual meeting.
Let me check on that and let me get back to you to tell you whether would you be interested in attending in person if you were able to.
I'll look into it, Nick, and and I'll get back to you.
I'm, I'm really not clear, but I think yes, efforts are being made to try to come back to having some presence in, in the meetings.
I mean, the capacity has increased a little bit, but on the committee meetings, let me let me check on it.
If there are no other questions, then I think we can close the briefing.
Thank you very much for being with us and I wish you a good afternoon.
