The mass displacement in 1948, known as the Nakba (meaning “catastrophe” in Arabic), has an importance to Palestinians across the world, said Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, addressing a high-level event at UN Headquarters in New York, marking the day.
‘The occupation must end’
“The legacy of the event lives on, spearing us to continue our unflagging efforts to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” she said, noting that the General Assembly had adopted a resolution in November 2022 for this commemorative day.
Currently, the Israeli and Palestinian road towards peace and the implementation of an agreed two-State solution follows decades pock-marked with war, flaring tensions, violence, and multiple negotiation processes.
Ms. DiCarlo expressed deep concerns about diminishing prospects for kickstarting the peace process on the way to forging a two-State solution, given the current landscape of expanding Israeli settlements in occupied territory, recent violence, and Israel’s violation of Palestinian rights.
“Palestinians deserve a life of justice and dignity and the realization of their right to self-determination and independence,” she said. “The UN position is clear: the occupation must end. A two-State solution must be achieved in line with international law. We want to see an independent State of Palestine living side by side with Israel in peace.”
1948 ‘catastrophe’
For Palestinians, the 1948 the massive displacement meant families took what they could carry or was shipped in trucks, from their homes to areas outside the new State of Israel.
The UN agency created to serve the displaced population (UNRWA), reports that 5.9 million Palestinian are currently registered as refugees.
The sombre anniversary spotlights the world’s longest-standing protracted refugee crisis, serving as a stark reminder that Palestine refugees continue to live amidst conflict, violence, and occupation while aspiring to a just and lasting solution to their plight, said the UN Committee on the Rights of Palestine People.
‘Memory will remain’
The morning event brought together UN Member States and high-level speakers, including the President of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas.
“The Nakba memory will remain; it will continue to motivate our people to end the occupation,” Mr. Abbas said. “The occupation will end. The Palestinian right will prevail sooner or later, so that peace can prevail in our region and in the world.”
‘Longest unresolved refugee crisis’
“The plight of Palestine refugees remains the longest unresolved refugee crisis in the world,” UNRWA’s Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, said in a video message.
“More than ever, they require our collective solidarity,” he said. “There simply is no alternative to a political solution for all. Until such a day, there is no alternative to UNRWA; we have to continue to support them until a just solution is finally found to their plight.”
Special commemorative event
On Monday evening, UN Headquarters will host a special event and concert, featuring films and performances by Palestinian singer Sanaa Moussa, cellist and composer Naseem Alatrash, and the New York Arabic Orchestra, directed by four-time Grammy Award winner, Eugene Friesen.
Learn more about what UNRWA is doing for Palestine refugees here.
The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) issued a call for a more collaborative approach to better respond to the anticipated impact of changes on the southern US border.
“The challenges facing the Americas call for ambitious, innovative, and principled cooperation among all stakeholders,” the agencies said.
Such a plan must be based on international law and genuine solidarity to advance protection and solutions for refugees and migrants, and align with the framework laid out the Global Compact on Refugees, Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, as well as the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection.
New US restrictions
Welcoming positive initiatives to expand resettlement and other regular pathways in the region, the agencies remain concerned about new restrictions on access to asylum following the “long overdue” lifting of the Title 42 public health order by the United States.
Since the pandemic’s outset in 2020, Title 42 has been used by US immigration officials some 2.5 million times at the southern border, to expel people to Mexico or their home country, without assessing what risks they faced as a result of being returned.
Barriers preventing people from exercising the fundamental human right to seek asylum are unacceptable and contrary to States’ international obligations, they said, adding that the new US Government rule that restricts access for asylum-seekers who arrive irregularly, after transiting through another country is incompatible with principles of international refugee law.
While the number of people approaching the US border has grown in recent years, the agencies said that the majority of the people on the move in the Americas are still hosted by countries in Latin America.
Asylum seekers receive vital shelter and support along the United States’ southern border.
Multi-country approach
“The challenges presented by the movement of refugees and migrants cannot be solved by any country in isolation,” they said.
“Real progress can only be made through joint efforts to address the causes of displacement and irregular migration.”
The agencies said more could be done through support to communities that are hosting the majority of displaced people, providing access to fair and effective asylum procedures and other legal stay arrangements, and facilitating access to safe and regular pathways as alternatives to perilous journeys.
More effective response
A more effective response calls for collaborative engagement by States and other stakeholders to expand access to protection and asylum and regular pathways to migration, while strengthening solutions, the agencies said.
The US-led expansion of refugee resettlement and other regular routes is a welcome step that can present real alternatives for desperate people who are risking their lives to find safety and solutions, they said.
Facilitated and expanded access to resettlement, family reunification, humanitarian parole, and labour mobility schemes, can save lives and protect people from smuggling, trafficking and other forms of violence, they said.
UNHCR and IOM are ready to redouble efforts to work with all countries and existing regional mechanisms to make this a reality, the agencies said.
However, expanding resettlement and other regular pathways cannot replace the responsibility of States to provide people with access to territory and asylum procedures, they urged.
Any return agreements between States, including of asylum-seekers to a third country, must uphold in practice the principle of non-refoulement, the prohibition on forced return of people to situations where their lives and safety are at risk, they stressed.
Speaking at a press briefing at the United Nations in Geneva, IOM’s spokesperson Paul Dillon said that according to IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix, more than 700,000 people were now internally displaced by the fighting, which began on 15 April.
The number of IDPs increased in many areas, including the capital, where clashes were continuing, he said: “Last Tuesday, the figure stood at 340,000. And, of course, prior to the fighting, an estimated 3.7 million people were internally displaced in Sudan.”
Fleeing in many directions
Responding to a question about where internally displaced persons were heading, Mr. Dillon said the data was currently preliminary and being analysed. They were moving into multiple states, including White Nile and Khartoum.
Decisions to move were influenced by many different factors, including whether there was conflict in any given area. However, it was difficult for the people to find money, with cash distribution stalled, and the banking system, in effect, shut down.
Fuel is also difficult to come by and expensive, according to IOM.
Deliveries thwarted
“The IOM has stocks of non-food items in six warehouses around the country,” said the IOM spokesperson. “But to date, we have been unable to deliver to those in need.
“The fighting must end and humanitarians must be allowed to resume their work, providing assistance to those most in need before the situation spirals further out of control.”
Secretary-General António Guterreson Monday condemned looting at the main compound of the UN World Food Programme (WFP) in Khartoum over the weekend. This was the latest targeting of humanitarian facilities since the start of the crisis, now into its fourth week. Most, if not all UN agencies and humanitarian partners, have been impacted by large-scale looting.
Information vacuum
“At this point, we don’t have any information, we aren’t even able to confirm the extent of the looting in the Khartoum office, but reiterate that the food, the vehicles, the fuel, the assets that have been looted from WFP, go towards the response for the people in Sudan. And this directly hurts the people of Sudan,” said Isheeta Sumra, WFP’s Communications Officer speaking from the agency’s headquarters in Rome.
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) also reported attacks and looting of healthcare facilities in Sudan.
“Since 15 April, WHO has verified 28 attacks on health, leading to eight deaths and 18 injuries. More reports are under verification,” said WHO spokesperson Tarik Jašarević.
“These attacks include looting, obstruction of access to healthcare, violent attacks using weapons and the forced occupation of facilities. Unfortunately, the looting is affecting healthcare facilities. And this is something that severely undermines the possibility of Sudanese people to seek healthcare.”
At the same briefing, the WHO said 604 people had been killed and more than 5,000 injured since the violence erupted in mid-April between the rival armed factions, although the UN has repeatedly said the figures are likely to be an underestimate.
At the same time, UN agencies are also helping to provide emergency relief support, including the International Organization for Migration (IOM), whose Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) aims at assisting refugees and third country nationals who are desperately trying to flee fighting by escaping to neighbouring countries.
Sudan’s national army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary unit, have been locked in a violent conflict since 15 April. According to the UN, more than 400 people have been killed in the fighting while tens of thousands of people are estimated to have been internally displaced, including more than 100,000 people who have fled to neighbouring countries.
Mr. Sharma moved to Sudan in 2021 with his brother. At the time violence broke out, he was working at the Omega steel plant and living with 160 workers in a guest house on the company’s premises 15 kilometres outside the capital city of Khartoum.
“We worked to clean the environment by recycling scrap metal. It had been almost two years since I had lived there, and things were going well. Unexpectedly, the conflict started there on 15 April. Both the military and the paramilitary fought amongst themselves, and the airport was shelled and burnt.
When the airport was destroyed, we got worried about how we would return home to India. We were not even able to contact anyone in India. We were trying to establish contact with the Indian Embassy as well, but network problems made that difficult.
Fighter planes flew over the guest house where we were staying, dropping ammunition and missiles.
We were very worried about how to get to a safe place in Sudan.
Looting and intimidation
On 17 April, a group of armed men entered the guest house. We all locked ourselves in a room in fear. They were vandalizing and firing their guns indiscriminately and speaking in a local language we could not understand.
Then they took one of our colleagues hostage. He started shouting for help.
Gathering courage, we went to rescue him, and gave them whatever we had – mobile phones, laptops – gave them keys of the vehicles, and that’s how we managed to send them away.
Trading cars for ‘our lives’
We came up with a plan that as soon as armed groups entered the guest house, we would not let them come inside. We felt that as long as we had vehicles and mobile phones, our lives would be spared. We let them take whatever they wanted; we just needed our food to survive. We had to keep our rations hidden.
We let them take whatever they wanted; we just needed our food to survive. We had to keep our rations hidden.
They came back again and again, hour after hour, and took whatever they wanted. They would come, we would offer them a car, and they would take it. We had 10 to 15 vehicles with us.
It went on this way for seven days. They came every day, and we all would assemble outside the guest house. During this time, we could neither sleep properly nor eat. When they would come, we would go out and give them whatever they wanted. By staying calm, we were able to save our lives.
Child soldiers
The strange thing was that those armed fighters appeared to be mostly children, about 10 to 15 years of age. They didn’t seem to know when and how to fire a weapon. A gun was being handed over to a child, who should have had a pen and a book in his hand.
Meanwhile, there was no proper contact with our families. At least 150 phones were looted from us, but we kept a dozen hidden. We had to cope with serious network problems, but once we contacted the Indian Embassy, the evacuation effort began.
‘Immense sense of relief’
On 23 April, an Indian Embassy bus picked us up, taking us on an almost 1,000-kilometre journey to Port Sudan. When we reached Port Sudan, we finally felt relieved when we saw the Indian Army. We felt an immense sense of relief that our lives may be saved.
We can only pray for Sudan. It would be good if the UN can take some action, especially for the children who are being exploited by the paramilitaries.
The people of Sudan love us, and they are happy to help. There is a lot of respect for Indians. People are also crazy about Bollywood. Sudanese people listen to Hindi songs, and Indian Bollywood stars like Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan are easily recognized by everyone.
I hope that everything gets back to normal in Sudan soon.”
The funding will cover immediate support in Chad, South Sudan, Egypt, Ethiopia and the Central African Republic. A more detailed plan will be launched next week.
More help needed
Raouf Mazou, UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Operations, pointed to the “tragic” humanitarian situation that has emerged in Sudan since fighting between rival military forces broke out nearly three weeks ago, killing more than 500 people.
The dire conditions include food, water and fuel shortages, as well as limited access to transport, communications and electricity. Access to healthcare has also been critically impacted, ongoing insecurity has prevented people from leaving dangerous areas, and the cost of basic items has skyrocketed.
UNHCR has been coordinating contingency planning with partners for new arrivals to countries bordering Sudan. The crisis has uprooted Sudanese citizens but also refugees who are now returning to their homelands, and other nationals.
“UNHCR and partners have emergency teams in place and are assisting authorities with technical support, registering arrivals, carrying out protection monitoring and strengthening reception to ensure urgent needs are met,” Mr. Mazou said. “This is just a start. More help is urgently needed.”
Refugees and returnees
The Regional Response Plan was drawn up by UNHCR together with 134 partners, including sister UN agencies, national and international non-governmental organizations, and civil society groups.
The 860,000 preliminary projection anticipates that some 580,000 people would be Sudanese; 235,000 returned refugees previously hosted by Sudan, leaving amid adverse conditions, and 45,000 refugees of other nationalities. Most arrivals are expected to flock to Egypt and South Sudan.
The fighting has already displaced over 330,000 people inside Sudan and forced over 100,000 to leave. UNHCR has also launched a data portal that will update daily refugee and returnee arrivals in neighbouring countries.
Whole region at risk
The Regional Response Plan will support host countries to ensure access to asylum, life-saving humanitarian assistance, and specialized services for the most vulnerable.
Like Sudan, most of the receiving nations were already hosting large numbers of forcibly displaced people, and operations were already perennially underfunded.
Mr. Mazou stressed the need for greater support now, warning of the potential wide-reaching consequences.
“We urgently need timely, new funding to respond to the mounting needs,” he said. “The needs are vast, and the challenges are numerous. If the crisis continues, peace and stability across the region could be at stake.”
Thousands at Ethiopia border town
Meanwhile, over 12,000 people have arrived at the remote Ethiopian border town of Metema since the fighting started on 15 April, the UN migration agency, IOM, reported on Thursday.
They include Sudanese citizens, returning Ethiopians and nationals from Türkiye, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya and more than 50 other countries.
Many are exhausted from the long and dangerous journey to safety.
IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) is currently recording over 1,000 daily arrivals in Metema. Many of these people enter Ethiopia without resources and belongings, leaving them vulnerable to being stranded.
IOM is assisting the arrivals, including those from countries whose embassies have requested support for their citizens.
Nearly 200 Kenyans, some of them students, over 200 Ugandans and more than 800 Somalis are among those who have been helped so far.
A Tanzanian family was also able to receive urgent medical attention and eventually return home with the assistance of their embassy in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa.
Two midwives work at a UNFPA-supported clinic in Sudan. (file)
‘Pregnancies don’t stop’
Back in Sudan, courageous midwives continue to bring new life into the world, amidst the heavy shelling and insecurity.
“As supplies and services grind to a halt, pregnancies don’t stop,” UN reproductive health agency, UNFPA, noted on Thursday.
UNFPA has trained some 90 community midwives who are helping pregnant women deliver safely, mainly at home, in the capital Khartoum.
“We are working all day every day across three hospitals. For women and girls who don’t have means of transportation, we go to their homes to ensure they give birth safely,” said Insaf, a midwife currently working in Om Badda, a western district in the city.
A life-threatening situation
Some 61 per cent of health facilities in Khartoum are closed, and only 16 per cent are operating as normal, affecting millions.
Dozens of attacks on hospitals, healthcare staff and ambulances, alongside widespread looting of already scarce medical supplies, water, fuel, and electricity, are pushing the health sector to the brink of collapse, UNFPA said.
The situation could prove life threatening for the estimated 219,000 pregnant women and girls in Khartoum alone because they cannot access essential health services, such as antenatal care, or deliver their babies in safety.
UNFPA stressed that access to midwives is the single most important factor in stopping preventable maternal and newborn deaths. Some 24,000 women are expected to give birth in the coming weeks.
“We have a severe lack of supplies in Khartoum, especially oxytocin and umbilical clips. Although services continue for the time being, we are praying for more supplies to arrive soon,” said Jamila, a midwife working in a UNFPA-supported health centre in Khartoum.
Meanwhile, blood, oxygen and other medical necessities, such as fuel for ambulances, are also running dangerously low.
Healthcare under fire
The World Health Organization (WHO) verified further assaults to the health system, such as looting, obstruction of access, violent attacks, and the forced occupation of facilities, the UN reported on Thursday.
Overall, 28 incidents have been verified, leading to eight deaths and 18 injuries among personnel working in the sector.
The UN and partners also continue to deliver humanitarian assistance to people in Sudan, wherever and whenever feasible.
Following a temporary pause, the World Food Programme (WFP) resumed its lifesaving operations on Wednesday, and a first set of distributions is underway to reach 22,000 people in Gedaref state.
Children caught in the crossfire
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has voiced its ongoing concern for boys and girls affected by the crisis. Some 190 children reportedly have been killed and another 1,700 injured.
“The situation in Sudan is teetering toward catastrophe, and children are increasingly caught in the crossfire,” Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a statement on Thursday.
“For the sake of Sudan’s children, the violence must stop.”
Ms. Russell added that attacks on the humanitarian sector are affecting her agency’s work to deliver lifesaving health, nutrition, water and sanitation services to children across the country.
Aid workers have come under fire, while humanitarian facilities and supplies – including those belonging to UNICEF – have been looted or destroyed.
“UNICEF also calls for a long-term political solution to the crisis, so that Sudan’s children can grow up in an environment of peace and look ahead to a more hopeful future,” Ms. Russell said.
“I spent the night in fear, unable to go out of my house, as people were being killed everywhere,” she said, worrying about how she would protect her five-year-old son and three-year-old daughter.
Panicked by the sounds of shooting and warplanes flying overhead, she tried calling her husband at work, only to learn from friends that he had been shot dead.
I spent the night in fear, unable to go out of my house, as people were being killed everywhere – Arafa
No time to mourn
With no time to mourn and no clear plan, she fled Khartoum with her two young children in a desperate bid to escape. Setting out by bus, she arrived in Madani, a city 135 kilometres southeast of Khartoum, where a local man offered to help them leave the country.
Together with five others, they were driven to Port Sudan, the country’s main eastern seaport. From there they walked for a whole day before finding transport towards the Egyptian border.
“I was scared, tired, and without hope,” she said, noting that she spent 80 hours without food or water. “The road was difficult, and the continued sound of gunfire was deafening. I did not think we would make it. I was holding my children in my arms, fearing the war, the journey to asylum, and the long road ahead.”
Nowhere else to go
After crossing the border, they were eventually driven to Cairo and dropped off in a square in the unfamiliar city. With nowhere else to go, Arafa and her children spent the night on the street.
Arafa said that in the morning, a South Sudanese woman was passing by and saw her.
“She advised me to go to the office of UNHCR and register with them,” she said, adding that her family is now registered for assistance with the agency and is living with the kind South Sudanese woman.
Thousands of refugees are crossing the border into Chad fleeing violence in Sudan.
‘We are together, with the refugees’
Like the other countries neighbouring Sudan that have been impacted by the conflict, Egypt already hosts a large refugee population.
With UNHCR operations in these countries already acutely underfunded, the refugee agency said increased support will be vital to respond to the humanitarian needs of those fleeing the violence.
We are together, hand by hand, with the refugees, listening to them – Randa Osman, UNHCR
Randa Osman, an assistant field officer with UNHCR, provided an update from the Shagarab Refugee Camp in eastern Sudan.
“Despite the ongoing conflict, we are together, hand by hand, with the refugees, listening to them, and being with the people we serve in all situations in Sudan,” she said.
Amid airstrikes, armed attacks, and urban warfare, more than 100,000 Sudanese have already reportedly escaped into neighbouring countries, with their harrowing stories echoing the plight of tens of thousands of others who are frantically fleeing, since fierce fighting between rival military groups began on 15 April.
Fleeing with nothing
“We fled Sudan for Chad,” said Halime Issakh Oumar, who is now a refugee. “We want to be safe. There is no security. We came with nothing, not even food or something to drink.”
In these countries as well as neighbouring Ethiopia and South Sudan, thousands of men, women, and children are arriving, some after perilous journeys, according to the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and other UN entities.
Assisting growing numbers of refugees
Africa’s second largest refugee-hosting country, Sudan hosts more than 1.14 million refugees. Before the onset of the conflict, more than 3.7 million people were internally displaced, and now, there are many more, UNHCR said.
As the warring military factions have repeatedly broken fragile ceasefire agreements, several UN agencies say the numbers of refugees will continue to grow.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) is currently recording more than 1,000 daily arrivals in Ethiopia, where the majority – 39 per cent – are returning Ethiopians, and 17 per cent are Sudanese and third country nationals from more than 50 other countries.
Raghuveer Sharma, who moved to Sudan from India in 2021, had worked at a steel plant outside Khartoum at the outset of the conflict. For a full week, armed groups had entered the premises daily, looting and firing weapons indiscriminately, taking a hostage, and demanding vehicles and mobile phones, he told UN News.
“We made a plan that as soon as armed groups entered the guest house, we would not let them come inside,” he said. “As long as we had vehicles and mobile phones, our lives would be spared.”
Grateful for being evacuated, he said that “after this experience, I will not go back, even if the situation improves.”
Women and children rest after crossing into Koufroun, a Chadian village situated on the Chad-Sudan border.
A ‘perfect storm’
The UN estimates that as many as 270,000 Sudanese could end up crossing the seven international borders of the 48 million-strong nation – the third largest country in Africa.
UNHCR said on Thursday that the agency is expecting an outflow of 860,000 refugees and returnees from Sudan.
The World Food Programme (WFP) warned of “a perfect storm” in Chad, where the influx of refugees is unfolding weeks before the onset of the lean season between harvests, which is expected to leave an estimated 1.9 million people severely food insecure.
Pounding rains arriving about the same time, threaten to turn swathes of desert into rivers, imperiling deliveries of key food assistance to the refugees and other vulnerable groups, the agency said.
“It’s a perfect storm,” said Pierre Honnorat, WFP Country Director and Representative in Chad. “The lean season coming in June, and the rainy season that will cut off all those regions.”
Everything lost ‘in the blink of an eye’
The Sudanese people’s stories paint a somber picture of how conflict can instantaneously shatter lives.
A 16-year-old Sudanese girl had made it across the Chadian border to safety.
“I would love to go back to my country,” she said, “but only if we are safe there.”
While many have managed to escape the fighting and reach safety, Arafa said her own family’s future feels far from secure.
“I can’t believe I am here in Egypt now, but I am still afraid of everything,” Arafa said. “I need help. I am afraid of the future. I lost my home, my husband, and my country in the blink of an eye. I don’t want to lose my children too. I want them to be safe.”
UN in action
Across the border towns lacing Sudan, UN agencies are working to help those in need. Here is a snapshot of some of what is happening on the ground:
In Chad and Sudan, UN agencies are bringing in more than 70,000 core relief items from its global stockpiles.
In Egypt, the UN is conducting an assessment mission on the needs of people fleeing Sudan.
The UN and the Egyptian Red Crescent are delivering water, food, wheelchairs, and hygiene and sanitary kits to new arrivals.
UNHCR launched a preliminary inter-agency regional refugee response plan on Thursday to address urgent financial needs as soon as possible, which requires $445 million to support the displaced until October.
At border crossings, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) provides families with essential items and medical services.
IOM is providing such support services as transportation and accommodation to refugees and returnees at border areas, where the agency has set up transit centres.
The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) continues to support partners to provide life-saving health care, distribute supplies for safe births, and to manage obstetric emergencies through a network of midwives.
WFP provides assistance in the region, and it is urgently appealing for emergency funding, including at least $145.6 million to continue supporting newly arrived and existing refugees in Chad, along with host communities.
The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) sounded the alarm after 36,000 people of Haitian origin were deported during the first three months of the year, according to figures from the International Organization for Migration (IOM). Some 90 per cent were deported from the Dominican Republic.
Violations and abuses against Haitians
The experts expressed concern over collective expulsions which did not take into consideration individual circumstances and needs.
They also highlighted alleged human rights violations and abuses against Haitians on the move along migration routes, at borders and in detention centres in the Americas region, “as a result of strict migration control, the militarization of borders, systematic immigration detention policies and the obstacles to international protection” in some countries.
Such obstacles exposed these vulnerable migrants to “killings, disappearances, acts of sexual and gender-based violence, and trafficking by criminal networks”, the Committee warned.
Demanding protection for Haitian refugees
Caribbean countries, such as the Bahamas as well as the Turks and Caicos Islands, have announced measures against undocumented Haitian migrants. The United States in January also made public new border policies to permit fast-tracked expulsions to Mexico of Haitian migrants and others, crossing the southern border of the US without documentation.
Considering the desperate situation in Haiti, which does not currently allow for the safe and dignified return of Haitians to the country, as pointed out by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Committee called for an end to the collective expulsions of Haitians on the move.
It also said assessments of each individual case needed to be carried out, to identify protection needs in accordance with international refugee and human rights law, with particular attention to the most vulnerable groups.
Combatting racism and xenophobia
The independent human rights experts requested States parties in the Americas to investigate all allegations of excessive use of force, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment, and racial profiling against Haitians.
They also demanded protection of refugees against other allegations of human rights violations and abuses committed by both State and non-state actors; including at borders, migrant detention centres and along migration routes, to punish those responsible and to provide rehabilitation and reparations to victims or their families.
The experts also called for measures to prevent and combat xenophobic and racist violence and incitement to racial hatred against people of Haitian origin, and to publicly condemn racist hate speech, including those uttered by public figures and politicians.
Independent human rights experts are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council, in Geneva. They are mandated to monitor and report on specific thematic issues or country situations. They are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work.
Since 2014, over 26,000 people have died or gone missing crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Most of these deaths or disappearances, over 20,000, occurred in the Central Mediterranean, considered among the deadliest migration routes in the world.
“We are seeing a steep increase in the number of desperate people putting their lives at grave risk,” said Mr. Türk.
“We cannot afford to dither, and to become embroiled in yet another debate about who is responsible. Human lives are at stake.”
Regular migration channels
The UN rights chief called for concerted efforts to ensure swift rescues at sea, and the dignified, effective, and thorough processing of migrants at safe locations.
He urged countries to open up more regular migration channels, and to strengthen responsibility-sharing, arrangements for the disembarkation of rescued persons, as well as oversight of migration-related policies and practices.
His appeal came a day after the International Organization for Migration reported that 441 migrants had died in the Central Mediterranean during the first three months of the year, making it the deadliest first quarter on record since 2017.
Rescues at sea
The High Commissioner applauded the efforts of the Italian Coast Guard, who have rescued some 2,000 people since Friday.
Roughly 400 people reportedly remain at sea, waiting for help. At least four people died, and more than 20 others are missing, after two migrant boats sank off Tunisia on Saturday.
Italy has recorded some 31,300 migrant arrivals so far this year, up from around 7,900 during the same period in 2022. Most migrants come from Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Bangladesh, Tunisia and Pakistan, and they departed from Libya and Tunisia.
Support and cooperation
“Now is the time for solidarity with Italy and enhanced cooperation to safeguard the protection of the human rights of all people on the move,” said Mr. Türk, urging European Union countries to coordinate on migration governance.
Noting that Italy this week imposed a State of Emergency to manage the situation, he stressed that any new policies under it must be in line with the country’s human rights obligations.
“Human rights protections, such as the right to life and the prohibition of refoulement, cannot be derogated from, even during such times,” he said.
The High Commissioner also implored the Italian Government to abandon a new law adopted earlier this year which restricts civilian search and rescue operations, and to refrain from criminalizing those involved providing life-saving assistance at sea.
IOM has worked closely with the Government of Canada and other partners to safely resettle Afghans in the country since August 2021.
“The safe and dignified resettlement of refugees globally has been a central part of IOM’s work for more than 70 years and we are proud to be part of Canada’s efforts to provide a new home for tens of thousands of vulnerable Afghans,” said IOM Director General António Vitorino.
“We continue to work closely with the Government of Canada and other partners to ensure Afghans are provided the opportunity to restart their lives in safety.”
‘A signifcant achievement’
The latest flight included Afghans who supported Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, including family members of former interpreters and privately sponsored individuals. In the past, the programme has also resettled members of many marginalized groups such as disabled persons, women, and girls, and LGBTIQ+ people.
“Welcoming 30,000 Afghans, even though Afghanistan is one of the largest and most difficult resettlement efforts in Canada’s history, is a significant achievement,” said Sean Fraser, Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.
“This milestone is also a testament to the dedication of our partners, including the IOM, who continue to help vulnerable Afghans travel safely on their journey to Canada,” he added.
“I have met with newcomers and seeing how they are building their new lives in Canada makes us more determined than ever to help as many vulnerable Afghans as possible. We will continue to collaborate with our partners to do everything we can to bring Afghans in need of protection to safety, and to provide them with a new home and the support they need to thrive in Canada.”
A crucial collaboration
This achievement is the result of hard work and collaboration between IOM, the Government of Canada, NGOs, and other organizations operating in the region.
IOM plays a crucial role in the resettlement process, including coordinating resettlement flights, assisting with the application process, and providing pre-departure health assessments and pre-departure orientation sessions to prepare Afghans for their new lives in Canada. The UN agency also facilitates their travel to their new home communities around the country.
IOM collaborated with the Government of Canada to resettle Syrian and Iraqi refugees in the recent past, and it will continue to work with its global partners to support Canada’s pledge to welcome at least 40,000 Afghans.
IOM’s Missing Migrants Project documented 441 deaths during this period, though the true toll is likely to be higher.
Investigations continue into several reports of so-called invisible shipwrecks – cases where boats are reported missing but there are no records of survivors or search and rescue (SAR) operations.
The fates of more than 300 people aboard those vessels remain unclear, IOM said.
Delays costing lives
The Central Mediterranean route – stretching overseas from North Africa to Italy and, to a lesser degree, Malta – is the world’s most dangerous maritime crossing.
IOM said the rise in deaths comes amidstdelays in State-led rescue responses and hindrance to SAR operations carried out by non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
“The persisting humanitarian crisis in the Central Mediterranean is intolerable,” said IOM Director General, António Vitorino.
“With more than 20,000 deaths recorded on this route since 2014, I fear that these deaths have been normalized. States must respond. Delays and gaps in State-led SAR are costing human lives,” he added.
Delays in State-led rescues were cited as a factor in at least six incidents in the Central Mediterranean, leading to at least 127 fatalities, while the complete absence of response in a seventh case, claimed at least 73 lives.
NGO vessels detained
Meanwhile, NGO-led rescue efforts have been “markedly diminished” of late, the UN agency said, outlining the latest incidents.
IOM reported that on 25 March, the Libyan Coast Guard fired shots in the air as an NGO rescue ship, Ocean King, was responding to a report of a rubber boat in distress. The following day, another vessel, the Louise Michel, was detained in Italy after rescuing 180 people, reminiscent of the situation of the Geo Barents, which was detained in February and subsequently released.
Over the past weekend, 3,000 migrants reached Italy, bringing the total number of arrivals so far this year to 31,192, IOM said.
On Tuesday, a vessel carrying roughly 800 people was rescued more than 200 kilometers southeast of Sicily by the Italian Coast Guard with the assistance of a commercial vessel.
The Italian Coast Guard also rescued another ship with around 400 migrants that had been adrift for two days between Italy and Malta. IOM noted that not all migrants from these ships have reached safety and disembarked in Italy yet.
A legal obligation
“Saving lives at sea is a legal obligation for States,” said Mr. Vitorino. “We need to see proactive State-led coordination in search and rescue efforts.”
IOM said the troubling situation in the Central Mediterranean underscores the need for dedicated, predictable State-led SAR and disembarkation.
Action must also include supporting NGOs that provide lifesaving assistance at sea, and ending the criminalization, obstruction and deterrence of the efforts of those who provide such assistance.
IOM stressed that all maritime vessels, including commercial ships, have a legal obligation to provide rescue to boats in distress.
IOM further called for more concerted action to dismantle criminal smuggling networks and to prosecute those who profit from the desperation of migrants and refugees by facilitating dangerous journeys.
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