Sep122017

UN and partners aiding ‘unprecedented’ flow of refugees from Myanmar

United Nations

12 September 2017 – The flow of desperate Rohingya fleeing across the border from Myanmar into Bangladesh is unprecedented in terms of volume and speed, United Nations humanitarian agencies said today, amid calls for international support for the emergency response.

About 370,000 people have crossed the Bangladeshi border in the last two and a half weeks, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM).

“UN agencies and the Government were expecting the possibility that as many as 100,000 more people could come across when there were already 600,000 Rohingyas in Bangladesh. But I don’t think anyone expected a mass exodus like this, unprecedented in terms of value and speed,” said IOM Asia-Pacific Spokesperson Chris Lom, speaking with UN News from Cox’s Bazar, a thin stretch of beach in south-eastern Bangladesh.

Mr. Lom, who is one of the UN aid workers on the ground, said the people he spoke with are “very vulnerable, traumatized.”

There are “hundreds of people virtually camped out anywhere there is space. Any spare muddy piece of land or on hillside,” he said, calling for a coordinated, emergency response that is fully funded by the international community to avert a humanitarian crisis.

About 60 per cent of the Rohingya refugees – some 200,000 – are children, according to Jean Lieby, Chief of Child Protection at the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Bangladesh, who is also in Cox Bazar.

“The first thing you see here in the different Rohingya camps is the large number of children. You see children who have not slept for days, they are weak and hungry,” she told journalists in Geneva by phone.

Meanwhile, emergency relief supplies are being airlifted to Bangladesh today, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said.

“A UNHCR-chartered Boeing 777 flew in with 91 metric tonnes of aid,” spokesperson Adrian Edwards told the press, detailing a list that includes shelter material, jerry cans, blankets, sleeping mats and other essential items for 25,000 refugees.

A second flight is scheduled to land later today with some 1,700 family tents, with more aid to be delivered shortly.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has already provided some 68,800 people with high-energy biscuits, including to women-friendly spaces supported by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), and some 77,600 people with warm meals, working through a local partner.

UN and aid partners have launched an emergency appeal for Rohingya refugees, calling for $77 million to cover the next three months.

Sep122017

UN envoy stresses urgency of adequate, predictable resources for AU Mission in Somalia

United Nations

12 September 2017 – A senior United Nations official today called for greater support for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and warned that lack of funding could endanger hard-won progress in the country.

“We have continued to hear passionate appeals from the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council and the AU Commission that the issue of predictable, flexible and adequate funding for AMISOM needs to be addressed urgently,” said Haile Menkerios, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General to the AU, briefing the Security Council on the cooperation between the Organization and regional entities, including the AU.

“It would be tragic, not least for the long-suffering Somali people, if the gains and sacrifices of the last decade were reversed because the international community was unable to provide adequate and predictable funding for [the Mission],” he warned.

The senior UN official also noted the continued commitment of the Security Council and the AU Peace and Security Council to consider financial burden-sharing for AU Peace Support Operations authorized by the Security Council.

Further in his briefing, Mr. Menkerios, also the head of the UN Office to the AU (UNAOU), highlighted the continuous engagement at different levels between the UN Secretariat and the AU Commission, and that UN envoys work with and complement the efforts of AU Special Envoys in a number of critical situations across the continent.

He also spoke on collaborative engagements between the UN and the AU, and the Security Council’s recognition that its deliberations and decisions on peace and security issues in Africa can be enriched by briefings by senior AU officials, alongside their UN counterparts.

“As many Council members stated during the deliberations, there is a wealth of knowledge, experience and understanding which Special Representatives of the AU, as well as those of its Regional Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms, could place at the disposal of this Council,” he said, adding: “The UN Secretariat stands ready to work with the AU Commission […] in this regard.”

Sep122017

Press release: Hurricane Irma update

HM Government

Shelter kits provided by UK aid are being distributed in Anguilla to help those left homeless by Hurricane Irma.

The kits, transported by Britain’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Mounts Bay, are being delivered to people in need by the Anguillan Red Cross.

Crews from RFA Mounts Bay are also today delivering UK aid including shelter, food and water to those affected on Gorda in the British Virgin Islands.

On the Island of Tortola, British military troops are delivering food and water having already helped to make the area secure, enabling aid to be delivered.

In addition, the UK has helped to distribute water bottles to 700 of the most vulnerable households affected by Hurricane Irma on the British Virgin Islands.

There are now 1,000 UK military troops in the region helping with the relief effort.

International Development Secretary Priti Patel said:

The UK government continues to deliver UK aid to the victims of Hurricane Irma as a matter of extreme urgency.

We have over 40 tonnes of DFID aid in the region, and more aid is arriving every day.

Our military troops, police officers and aid workers are doing an amazing job on the ground, to get vital supplies to those who need it most.

To suggest the UK reacted slowly and is not doing enough is just plain wrong. We are leading the way, and other countries, are now coming to us for help.

In addition to providing support on the ground, the UK Government is working closely with affected governments to continue to understand what assistance is needed to ensure the right aid is getting to the right place.

Yesterday, International Development Secretary Priti Patel spoke to the Governor of the Virgin Islands, Augustus Jaspert, to discuss emerging needs on the island. Earlier today she briefed the Cabinet on these latest developments.

HMS Ocean, which was loaded in Gibraltar with 5,000 hygiene kits, 10,000 buckets and 500,000 water purification tablets, is due this evening to be deployed to the region.

The government has made £2.5 million available to the Pan American Health Organisation to ensure critical health services are provided in the region, and to reduce the risk of disease spreading.

This is part of the £32 million it has so far pledged to the relief effort.

DFID has deployed 18 staff in total to the region, including to Turks and Caicos, using British expertise to provide urgent relief to those in need and support efforts to restore infrastructure.

The UK Government is being supported by companies in the private sector, including:

  • Thomson and Thomas cook who have delivered over 8,000 buckets on commercial flights
  • Virgin, who offered free transport to dispatch relief items including 1776 shelter kits, to Antigua yesterday.

Today, we expect another 288 kits to fly the same route with them.

Notes to editors

Sep122017

Press release: Hurricane Irma update

MOD

Shelter kits provided by UK aid are being distributed in Anguilla to help those left homeless by Hurricane Irma.

The kits, transported by Britain’s Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship Mounts Bay, are being delivered to people in need by the Anguillan Red Cross.

Crews from RFA Mounts Bay are also today delivering UK aid including shelter, food and water to those affected on Gorda in the British Virgin Islands.

On the Island of Tortola, British military troops are delivering food and water having already helped to make the area secure, enabling aid to be delivered.

In addition, the UK has helped to distribute water bottles to 700 of the most vulnerable households affected by Hurricane Irma on the British Virgin Islands.

There are now 1,000 UK military troops in the region helping with the relief effort.

International Development Secretary Priti Patel said:

The UK government continues to deliver UK aid to the victims of Hurricane Irma as a matter of extreme urgency.

We have over 40 tonnes of DFID aid in the region, and more aid is arriving every day.

Our military troops, police officers and aid workers are doing an amazing job on the ground, to get vital supplies to those who need it most.

To suggest the UK reacted slowly and is not doing enough is just plain wrong. We are leading the way, and other countries, are now coming to us for help.

In addition to providing support on the ground, the UK Government is working closely with affected governments to continue to understand what assistance is needed to ensure the right aid is getting to the right place.

Yesterday, International Development Secretary Priti Patel spoke to the Governor of the Virgin Islands, Augustus Jaspert, to discuss emerging needs on the island. Earlier today she briefed the Cabinet on these latest developments.

HMS Ocean, which was loaded in Gibraltar with 5,000 hygiene kits, 10,000 buckets and 500,000 water purification tablets, is due this evening to be deployed to the region.

The government has made £2.5 million available to the Pan American Health Organisation to ensure critical health services are provided in the region, and to reduce the risk of disease spreading.

This is part of the £32 million it has so far pledged to the relief effort.

DFID has deployed 18 staff in total to the region, including to Turks and Caicos, using British expertise to provide urgent relief to those in need and support efforts to restore infrastructure.

The UK Government is being supported by companies in the private sector, including:

  • Thomson and Thomas cook who have delivered over 8,000 buckets on commercial flights
  • Virgin, who offered free transport to dispatch relief items including 1776 shelter kits, to Antigua yesterday.

Today, we expect another 288 kits to fly the same route with them.

Notes to editors

General media queries

Follow the DFID Media office on Twitter – @DFID_Press

Sep122017

Press release: Return of further powers to Rotherham

HM Government

The move to return the functions, which include community safety and waste collection, follows the latest report by the government-appointed Commissioner team that noted steady improvement by the council.

This council has already regained 8 powers in the last 9 months.

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said:

The council is continuing to make progress under the watchful eye of our commissioners and the return of additional powers to Rotherham reflects this progress.

However, the commissioners will remain in place and continue to work with the council to help restore full democratic powers.

Steady progress by the council

The Commissioner team, led by Mary Ney, who replaced Sir Derek Myers as Lead Commissioner in April 2017, outlined continuing improvements in her progress report of 18 May 2017.

The Communities Secretary will hand back control of the following functions to the council:

  • performance management in each of the council’s service areas
  • waste collection
  • community safety which includes community cohesion and domestic violence
  • human resources
  • asset management including both land and property assets

To give further assurance to residents, the community safety service will be returned with enhanced oversight by the commissioner team over services supporting victims of domestic violence. This would allow the relevant commissioner to veto any Cabinet decision if they feel necessary.

Commissioners will retain executive decision making power over children’s social care services, special allowances, and also the appointment and dismissal of any statutory officers. They will also continue to have oversight over all returned functions.

Mr Javid will continue to receive 3-monthly reviews from the commissioners.

Further information

Commissioners with executive responsibilities at Rotherham metropolitan borough council are:

  • Lead Commissioner – Mary Ney
  • Children’s Social Care Commissioner – Patricia Bradwell
  • Supporting Commissioner – Julie Kenny CBE

The intervention is expected to end on 31 March 2019.