Media Home
UN Web TV
UN Audiovisual Library
UN PhotoUN / MIGRANTS MEDITERRANEAN
Download
There is no media available to download.
Share
STORY: UN / MIGRANTS MEDITERRANEAN
TRT: 02:29
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 24, 30 SEPTEMBER 2024, NEW YORK CITY
24 SEPTEMBER 2024, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Headquarters
30 SEPTEMBER 2024, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sivanka Dhapanala, Director, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Office in New York:
“We continue to bear witness to the tragedies of lives lost at sea and on land routes, with no end in sight. Since last year’s briefing, the numbers of people crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa have reduced significantly. However, there has not been an improvement in access to protection along the key routes for refugees and asylum-seekers.”
4. Wide shot, Dhapanala speaking
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sivanka Dhapanala, Director, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Office in New York:
“UNHCR is working with partners to implement a route-based approach aimed at enhancing access to protection along key routes. This approach represents a shift towards a more humane but also effective State responses, to deliver better outcomes for people on the move, affected communities and States, and create alternatives to dangerous journeys, including through strengthening asylum systems, early identification and referral of refugees as well as migrants, including those with specific needs.”
6. Wide shot, Dhapanala speaking
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Sivanka Dhapanala, Director, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Office in New York:
“I cannot emphasize enough how urgent it is to address the main drivers of these movements, which include conflict, political instability, poverty and climate change. Since the last briefing on this subject, the situation in many countries of origin or asylum has further deteriorated, including in the Sudan and Sahel. With the recent escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, there is potential for an increase in onward movement also from countries there.”
8. Wide shot, IOM Office to the United Nations Director Pär Liljert addressing Council
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Pär Liljert, Director, International Organization for Migration (IOM) Office to the United
Nations:
“Despite immense risks, migrants and refugees will continue to seek a future in Europe, and other places, with Libya remaining a critical transit point. We know, for example, that the number of migrants in Libya has continued to increase slightly, a trend that began in December 2023. The rise in the number of migrants in Libya can be partially
linked to the arrival of Sudanese migrants, particularly in Alkufra, because of the ongoing conflict in their country of origin.”
10. Wide shot, Liljert addressing Council
11. Wide shot, Council
The Security Council today (30 Sep) heard briefings from the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on the situation of migrants crossing the Mediterranean.
Sivanka Dhanapala, UNHCR’s head of the New York Office told the Council that “we continue to bear witness to the tragedies of lives lost at sea and on land routes, with no end in sight.”
Dhanapala said that since last year’s briefing, “the numbers of people crossing the Mediterranean from North Africa have reduced significantly. However, there has not been an improvement in access to protection along the key routes for refugees and asylum-seekers.”
He said the “Refugee Agency “is working with partners to implement a route-based approach aimed at enhancing access to protection along key routes,” with the aim of creating “alternatives to dangerous journeys, including through strengthening asylum systems, early identification and referral of refugees as well as migrants, including those with specific needs.”
Dhapanala said, “I cannot emphasize enough how urgent it is to address the main drivers of these movements, which include conflict, political instability, poverty and climate change.”
He noted that “the situation in many countries of origin or asylum has further deteriorated, including in the Sudan and Sahel. With the recent escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, there is potential for an increase in onward movement also from countries there.”
For his part, Pär Liljert, the Director of the International Organization for Migration’s Office in New York, said, “despite immense risks, migrants and refugees will continue to seek a future in Europe, and other places, with Libya remaining a critical transit point. We know, for example, that the number of migrants in Libya has continued to increase slightly, a trend that began in December 2023. The rise in the number of migrants in Libya can be partially
linked to the arrival of Sudanese migrants, particularly in Alkufra, because of the ongoing conflict in their country of origin.”
