UN secretary-general arrives in Bangladesh to visit Rohingya refugee camps and push for aid
DHAKA, Bangladesh — U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres arrived in Bangladesh on Thursday on a four-day visit to review the situation of more than 1 million Rohingya refugees amid the fear of aid cuts that could seriously affect them.
Bangladesh's foreign affairs adviser, Touhid Hossain, received Guterres at Dhaka's main airport.
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Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
As crisis in Haiti worsens, UN council calls meeting to push for international support
Children —who make up nearly half of Haiti's population — are being exploited, raped and recruited by armed gangs, who have also taken over many of their schools. Some 2.85 million of them, from toddlers to teens, face famine while also being forced to flee their homes due to worsening violence. But four months after U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres presented a plan to the Security Council on how to help Haiti address its alarming gang violence, the country's protracted crisis has only deepened, with no solution in sight. There is still no consensus among the council's five permanent members on the next steps to take and the U.S. is backing away, asking Congress to rescind millions of dollars in U.N. contributions. The lack of a response and budget crisis come amid a wave of fresh attacks that in April alone, displaced more than 67,000 new people after gangs moved into the country's central region. On Sunday, gangs continued their terror campaign, setting fire to a municipal market in the city of Mirebalais, in Haiti's Central Plateau and also to homes in Furcy, a rural community in the hills above Port-au-Prince where some of the country's wealthy boast vacation homes and cottages. 'When we say things are stuck, they're not just stuck in New York or Washington. It's also dealing with the need for Port-au-Prince, the government itself, the Transitional Presidential Council, to have a keener sense of urgency about what needs to be done,' said Robert Rae, Canada's ambassador to the United Nations. On Wednesday, Rae, who serves as president of the United Nations Economic and Social Council, ECOSOC, will host a special meeting on Haiti alongside the U.N. Peacebuilding Commission. The goal: to keep Haiti's protracted, multifaceted crisis in the international spotlight. 'We're not going to rest until there's a comprehensive plan for Haiti that is led by the Haitian authorities and has the full support of all the other countries in the world and the international community. That's our goal, that's our objective,' he said. But that plan, Rae said can't just focus on the security crisis. It has to also involve addressing the root causes of Haiti's perennial instability and worsening violence, which include poverty, exclusion and inequality. 'We all know it as well that the security situation feeds on the inequality and feeds on the unemployment; it feeds on the vulnerability of people, the fact that kids can't get any work, there's no work for them anywhere else, and the human trafficking that goes on. It's terrible,' said Rae, who also chairs the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on Haiti at the U.N. and has visited the country on several occasions. 'The level of violence is out of sight, and the level of safety not only in Port-au-Prince, but in the country generally, is a level that nobody can see as acceptable. 'We've got to have a coherent, effective on the ground strategy to deal with it. That's where there's a whole lot more that could happen if we could get a political will from the communities around Haiti, and also, more broadly, to support what needs to be done.' In recent months, a Haitian government task force operating out of the prime minister's office has turned to using weaponized drones to go after gang leaders after signing contracts with two private security firms. However, there has been no transparency on the value of the contracts or the rules of engagement. The government also hasn't said how it's planning on tackling the crisis, including how to stop the recruitment of children by armed groups. According to the UNICEF, the U.N.'s child welfare agency, an estimated 30% to 50% of gang members in Haiti are children, some as young as 8 years-old, and their recruitment has been soaring. 'When people say to me, 'Well, development is not so important. The real issue is security.' I say to them, you can't separate out the two, those two things go together,' Rae said. 'And you can't separate out development and security from human rights and from creating a sense of opportunity for people.' Ahead of the meeting, which will be broadcast on UN web TV, Rae and the special representative for the U.N. secretary general in Haiti, María Isabel Salvador, will host a press conference. Then they will move into discussions in addition to a representative of civil society, invitations have also been extended to senior U.N. officials, Haitian government officials and the Inter-American Development Bank. IDB President Ilan Goldfajn visited Haiti's second largest city, Cap-Haïtien, last month. Goldfajn's visit is part of efforts by Haitian authorities to get the international community to pay closer attention to areas outside of the gang-ridden capital that are also in need of attention. In a communique on Tuesday, Spain's Embassy in Port-au-Prince said that its ambassador, Marco Antonio Peñin Toledano, recently visited several project sponsored by the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, known as ACEID, in the cities of Miragoâne in the Nippes region and Les Cayes. The ambassador participated in an inauguration ceremony for the rehabilitation and expansion of the drinking water supply system in the city of Miragoâne, as well as visited a similar project in Les Cayes. He also learned about other initiatives supported by Haitian civil society and Spain. During his three day tour of the region the ambassador also met with the nongovernmental organization, Biwo dwa moun, which is currently implementing a project 'Defending the Human Rights of Women, Children and Vulnerable Groups in Port-au-Prince, Cayes, Coteax, and Aquin' with funding from ACEID. The joint meeting of ECOSOC, which is responsible for coordinating the U.N.'s international work on economic and social issues, and the Peacebuilding Commission will focus on measures to address community-level peacebuilding and violence reduction, including the role of women and youth. Among the questions that will be tackled, what can the international community do to help accelerate efforts in Haiti and how can civil society help. Rae is prioritizing discussions around the recruitment of children, who now make up 30% to 50% of gangs, and prevention efforts as well as their safe exits. The issue of arms trafficking, most of which are coming from the U.S. via ports in South Florida, will also be raised. Also likely to come up is the ongoing effects of aid cuts. Last week, the World Food Program said that its warehouses in Haiti are bare and there was just enough food stock until July. An effort by the U.N. to raise $908.2 million for its Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Haiti has so far only garnered 9% of funding. Meanwhile, both the country and U.N. agencies are continuing to reel from recent U.S. government foreign aid cuts and the gutting of the U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID. USAID has been a funder of foreign aid to Haiti, where in addition to the more than 1 million people internally displaced by gangs, the country is among one of the world's worst hot spots for hunger with 5.7 million Haitians, nearly half of the population, facing hunger. 'No question, the USAID decisions in Haiti have been devastating. They have had a massively negative impact on what's going on. But we also need to recognize that there needs to be other ways. We can't just throw up our hands and say, 'This is awful.' We've got to figure out, what more can we do?' Rae said. 'That's what Canada is doing, and that's what we all are continuing to do, to see 'Okay, these decisions are being made. We don't agree with the decisions, but we've got to move forward and see what else we can do.' That's the spirit with which we're addressing this thing.' In addition to providing foreign assistance to Haiti, Canada is the leading financial contributor to a U.N. Trust Fund to support the Kenya-led Multinational Security Support mission in Haiti. As of Monday, the fund had $111.9 million in pledges with the country of Denmark being the latest to offer $1.5 million last month.
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Yahoo
UN envoy to Myanmar warns that violence puts country on 'path to self-destruction'
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Myanmar is on 'a path to self-destruction' if violence in the conflict-wracked Southeast Asian nation doesn't end, the U.N. envoy warned on Tuesday. Julie Bishop told the U.N. General Assembly that 'alarmingly' the violence didn't end after a powerful earthquake in late March devastated parts of the capital, Naypyitaw, and the country's second-largest city, Mandalay, killing more than 3,000 people and injuring thousands more. Ceasefires announced by some parties have largely not been observed, 'embedding a crisis within a crisis,' and people in Myanmar must now deal with the raging conflict and the earthquake's devastation, said Bishop, a former foreign minister of Australia. 'A zero-sum approach persists on all sides,' she said. 'Armed clashes remain a barrier to meeting humanitarian needs. The flow of weapons into the country is fueling the expectations that a military solution is possible.' A widespread armed struggle against military rule in Myanmar began in February 2021 after generals seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. More than 6,600 civilians are estimated to have been killed by security forces, according to figures compiled by nongovernmental organizations. The military takeover triggered intensified fighting with long-established armed militias organized by Myanmar's ethnic minority groups in its border regions, which have struggled for decades for more autonomy. It also led to the formation of pro-democracy militias that support a national unity government established by elected lawmakers barred from taking their seats after the army takeover. More than 22,000 political prisoners are still in detention, Bishop said, including Suu Kyi, who turns 80 on June 19, and the ousted president, Win Myint. The U.N. envoy said she detected 'some openness to political dialogue with some regional support, but there is not yet broader agreement on how to move forward.' In meetings with the country's leaders, Bishop said she encouraged them to reconsider their strategy, which has left the country more divided. She also warned against elections, planned for December or January, saying they risk fueling greater resistance and instability unless there is an end to the violence and they can be held in an inclusive and transparent way. Bishop said she has been coordinating further action with Othman Hashim, the special envoy for Myanmar from the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as ASEAN, and they agreed to visit Myanmar together. The U.N. envoy said she had a meeting online on Monday with representatives of the Rohingya minority from Myanmar and Bangladesh. She said the situation for the Rohingya in Myanmar's northern Rakhine state remains dire, with up to 80% of civilians living in poverty and caught in crossfire between the government's military forces and the Arakan Army, the well-armed military wing of the Rakhine ethnic minority, and "subject to forced recruitment and other abuses.' More than 700,000 Muslim Rohingya fled to Bangladesh from Myanmar starting in late August 2017 when Myanmar's military launched a 'clearance operation.' Members of the ethnic group face discrimination and are denied citizenship and other rights in the Buddhist-majority nation. Bishop said there's hope that a high-level conference on the Rohingya and other minorities called for by the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 30 will put a spotlight on the urgency of finding 'durable solutions' to their plight.
Time Magazine
12 hours ago
- Time Magazine
The World is Looking to Europe to ‘Resist,' Says French Foreign Minister
When French President Emmanuel Macron appointed Jean-Noël Barrot last September as his new Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs—the fourth during eight years in power—some feared the 42-year-old economist might be totally eclipsed by the country's kinetic leader. Indeed, Macron has zipped furiously across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia all year, negotiating deals on climate, trade, military assistance, and peace, some of it in an effort to fill an aching vacuum left by Washington. For all that, Barrot, who spent a few years teaching at MIT, has emerged as a fervent voice for his boss's agenda, attempting to give the world a global-minded alternative to an increasingly inward-looking U.S. This week, that contrast is on stark display in the sun-baked Provence city of Nice, where thousands are gathered for the U.N.'s Oceans Conference. The hope is that after five days of talks and speeches, nations will agree to international controls on fishing, deep-sea mining, wildlife conservation, and other issues, in order to stanch the rapid degradation of oceans, crucial to reining in global warming. Delegations of top government officials, presidents, and prime ministers from about 170 countries are among the crowds. Absent: The U.S. At the end of the hectic opening day on Monday, Barrot sat down with TIME to reflect on the impact of a deeply changed global order, and what can be done. TIME: The U.S. administration is not represented here. Did they decline the invitation, or did they never say whether they were coming? Barrot: Everyone was invited. This is a U.N. conference, so any U.N. member country is invited to come. But I cannot help but notice that many U.S. organizations are present. We have U.S. scientists. We have the Mayor of New Orleans, the Mayor of New York, the Mayor of Los Angeles. This is a really crucial global summit. Are you saying it doesn't matter whether the U.S. takes itself out of the whole process? Because of course, it is not just the oceans. One thing is true: Europe will never give up on multilateralism, on cooperation. We believe it is in the interest of mankind, but it's also in our own interests. We're seeing many countries around the world, in Africa, in Latin America, in Southeast Asia, that are looking at France and Europe to resist. They're looking at us and expecting us to resist the temptation by some to go back to confrontation, fears of coercion. And it is our intention to build coalitions whenever traditional multilateral forums are not effective, to show that there is only one way to solve the global issues we're facing, the consequences of which are going to affect our daily lives, [which] is by multilateral means. That feels a bit like you're climbing uphill. You've got to put together a coalition, and build this multilateralism, without a key player involved. No. What I'm saying is that we will defend multilateralism in all areas. We're celebrating the 80th anniversary of the U.N. this year. They built those that came before us. They built a number of multilateral forums for trade, for security, for environment. We're going to defend and support these. But at any point in time when they will not be able to deliver results, because some will oppose them from within, then we will find other ways for multilateral forums and cooperation to exist. The key message is that everyone, every country in the world, is better off with an effective multilateralism. It is not because some countries in the world would like to give up on multilateralism, that we will give up. We will not. This goes beyond oceans. I'm thinking of international trade, of security, of the security architecture coming out of the Second World War, starting with the U.N. Charter that basically says that there is never any pretext for violence and brute force, except for self defense, and except when the Security Council prescribes it. We're seeing these basic principles—that you don't touch my borders and I will not touch yours—being violated. You mean Ukraine? Yes, and other places in the world. We are seeing the Non-Proliferation Treaty being questioned by some countries that are basically close to acquiring nuclear weapons and creating massive instability. I could mention other global goods, such as health, with the World Health Organization. So the whole architecture we've relied on for 80 years. It is weakened. It is going to have to be something new. That is why we're pleading in favor of reform of the Security Council at the U.N., to allow India, Brazil, Germany, Japan, and two African countries to become permanent members. [Since 1945 only the U.S., Britain, France, China, and Russia have been permanent members of the Security Council, holding veto power on votes at the U.N.] If we want international law and multilateral principles to be stronger, we need the institutions to be more representative and legitimate. People have been calling for this for a long time, and it's never happened. Do you see an opportunity now, given what terrible shape multilateralism is in? I think history is accelerating. And for all those who believe in this legacy that came out of the ruins of the Second World War, and that feel responsible for transferring to the next generation the global architecture that does not prevent all countries from having anything bad happen, that has prevented so many of these things over the past decades—if we want this to survive, it's time to act. There are two wars that seem to have no end date. How do you see this ending in Ukraine and in Gaza? So in Gaza, we are calling for an immediate ceasefire. Liberation of hostages held by Hamas and unhindered access of humanitarian help to Gaza. But then, the only alternative to a permanent state of war is a political solution resting on two states living side by side with security guarantees. This is what we're working on in the perspective of the conference that will be taking place in a few days [a U.N. conference in New York on June 18], removing all the obstacles on the path towards such a political solution, because we believe it to be in the interests of the Israeli people, of the Palestinian people—and therefore, in our interests as well, as Europeans. For Ukraine, we need Vladimir Putin to cease fire and to agree to enter into peace negotiations that will comply with the principles of the U.N. Charter. Since he doesn't seem to be sending any signal that he's willing to do that, we're going to build up significant pressure, by coordinating with the efforts led by the U.S. senators to adopt in the next few days a new package of sanctions, targeted to force Putin, allowing for peace negotiation to start. And military security guarantees from Europe too? We need a ceasefire for discussions to start, and then, of course, those discussions will have [to] come to the question of territories and security guarantees. You think you could go ahead without the U.S., or you think that the U.S. will finally come on board? The most important point is for Ukraine to be able to deter any further aggression. This starts with strengthening their own army. A strong army is in itself a powerful deterrent. There are various possible formulas and scenarios that I don't want to present here, some of which indeed include some form of contribution by the U.S. Getting back to the oceans: President Macron told the conference the oceans 'are not for sale.' Everyone, myself included, understood that to refer to President Trump's executive order allowing deep-sea mining. On this, there's no surprise. We've brought together a coalition of more than 30 countries that request a moratorium, or at the very least to apply a precautionary principle to the exploitation of deep seas, and that supports international efforts by the International Seabed Authority to draft a mining code. So it's no surprise [that] when we've seen recent decisions allowing exploitation of the seabed that we would voice our opposition. We're saying it today and we'll say it in the future. But what do you do if the U.S. simply goes ahead and effectively violates international law? What's your recourse? Our mission here in Nice is to highlight the risks of indulging in such seabed exploitation without first taking the time to explore its resources and draft legislation that is going to preserve the resources of the ocean and allow for economic activity with and from the ocean. That's the only way to make such sort of ocean-based economic activity acceptable and sustainable. Do you have international law to enforce that? I mean, at the moment, the enforcement mechanism is a little bit lacking. No. The International Seabed Authority is in the process of drafting a mining code. We support this effort. As far as the high seas is concerned, there is absolutely no regulation. This Treaty on the High Seas [a U.N.-negotiated document which several countries are ratifying in Nice this week] is going to initiate the process. It is going to end up with regulation of 50% of the planet [the oceans] that is subject to absolutely no law, nor any regulation. That adds to various announcements regarding marine protected areas, decarbonization of transportation, the creation of an international organization for the science of the ocean, and the creation of a global coalition of cities and regions. The world is basically taking its destiny in its hands and acting for the ocean. But not the U.S.? Everywhere I'm walking in Nice I am seeing the presence of U.S. scientists, U.S. mayors. We still have some work to do to keep raising awareness, so that everyone around the world understands that there is only one ocean, and that our future is pretty much — very much — connected to it. If we don't act with resolution, the ocean that is our friend and ally can also become an adversary, especially for countries that have coastlines that are exposed to the rising sea levels. This is the biggest ever conference organized on the ocean. We had 4,000 people in 2017 in New York [the first U.N. Oceans Conference], 7,000 in Lisbon in 2022, and over 100,000 people in Nice. President Macron is going to Greenland this weekend. Why? Greenland is European territory. He will be there with the Prime Minister of Denmark. We've been saying repeatedly that European borders are not negotiable. So it's a way to reaffirm this principle, but also to strengthen our cooperation with Greenland. We intend to enhance those links, from scientific cooperation to economic cooperation. Is it a message to the U.S. president too? I think it's more of a message to Greenland. And the testament to our friendship as well.
