On Lebanon, Inner City Press Asks Sigrid Kaag Again of World Bank Limitation, Torture in Roumieh Prison

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, July 8 --  When the UN's Special Coordinator on Lebanon Sigrid Kaag emerged from the UN Security Council on July 8, Inner City Press asked her if there has been any progress or at least effort on the problem caused by the World Bank classifying Lebanon as a middle income country, and about torture in Roumieh prison. Video here.

  Kaag reply about the World Bank was that things take time, but that she would like to see the issue discusses at the upcoming Financing for Development conference in Addis Ababa -- where as noted by the Free UN Coalition for Access some but not all of the Zone 9 Bloggers have just been released -- and that it was raised at the World Bank's and IMF's most recent meetings.

  On torture, Kaag pointed to her response when the video emerged, and said that a comprehensive response is being pushed for, citing the CAT, ombudspersons and training. Video here.

Back on March 17, Kaag said that the "UN family" stands ready to help with Lebanon's development. 

  Inner City Press asked Kaag about the use of white phosphorus by Israel, cited in Paragraph 10 of the underlying 1701 report.

    On this last, Kaag said to ask the UNIFIL spokesperson - done.

(On the killing of a Spanish UNIFIL peacekeeper, of which Inner City Press asked the Security Council's president for March, Francois Delattre of France, Delattre make a point of answering, saying that the investigation is ongoing but to check that with the UN Spokesperson - to be done).

  Kaag said on March 17 that there is a debate about the financing for development implications of "middle income" status, that Lebanon is not the only country facing humanitarian issues which faces this problem. The question remains, how will the "UN family" address it?

   “It is absurd that Lebanon has no access to World Bank grants because it is considered a middle-income country,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres' prepared remarks to the UN Security Council on Syria on February 26 said.

   When he delivered the remarks, he added in Jordan. So Inner City Press, when Guterres came to the Security Council stakeout after that meeting, asked him about this addition, and if he -- and UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Kyung-wha Kang beside him -- would be pushing for a change at the World Bank, which is official a part of the UN “family.”

  Guterres replied that development assistance should taken into account this new world, where Lebanon and Jordan but also Chad, Niger and Cameroon with respect to Nigeria, and Ethiopia and Kenya with respect to Somalia, are the “first line of defense for global collective security.”Video here.

  Lebanon's Ambassador to the UN Nawaf Salam told Inner City Press, "This is unfortunate indeed," here.

 But what will be done? Watch this site.
   

Inner City Press Asks UNHCR's Amin Awad of World Bank and Jordan, Lebanon, Any Follow Up?

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, April 9 -- “It is absurd that Lebanon has no access to World Bank grants because it is considered a middle-income country,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres' prepared remarks to the UN Security Council on Syria back on February 26 said.

 On April 9 at IPI Inner City Press asked Amin Awad, Director of the Middle East and North Africa Bureau of the UNHCR, what the agency and rest of the UN have been doing to bring about a change at the World Bank on this.

  Amin Awad replied to Inner City Press that “on the World Bank, I think there is a conviction at the Bank, at the high level, the management” for a “special provision or at least a suspension of the rule” that middle income countries are not eligible. “We are pushing in that direction,” he said, and “there is traction among donors.” He said the realities in Jordan and Lebanon are different now, on income, growth rate, the support they need. “The World Bank is a leading institution and has to be involved with Jordan and Lebanon” and other countries.

  But will they? We'll stay on this. Watch this site.

   Back on February 26 Inner City Press, when Guterres came to the Security Council stakeout after the meeting, asked him about this addition, and if he -- and UN Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Kyung-wha Kang beside him -- would be pushing for a change at the World Bank, which is official a part of the UN “family.”

  Guterres replied that development assistance should taken into account this new world, where Lebanon and Jordan but also Chad, Niger and Cameroon with respect to Nigeria, and Ethiopia and Kenya with respect to Somalia, are the “first line of defense for global collective security.”Video here.

  Lebanon's Ambassador to the UN Nawaf Salam told Inner City Press, "This is unfortunate indeed," here.

 But what will be done? Watch this site.
   

Plight of Refugees in Za'atari Camp in Jordan Obscured Amid UN's Syria Superbowl

By Matthew Russell Lee

  UNITED NATIONS, August 30 -- Syria's neighbors were given center stage in the UN Security Council on Thursday, to talk up what they do for refugees.

  Inner City Press asked the UN's top official for refugees, UNHRC's Antonio Gutteres, about the Za'atari camp in Jordan, and about a protest of UNHCR in Annan. (At this last, new Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson raised his eyebrows, seeming surprised that the UN would be protested.) Video here, from Minute 2:50.

  Gutteres said Jordan decided to establish that camp in "a very difficult situation from the point of view of the environmental conditions." You might say: the tents are blown down by sandy winds and there are scorpions. Residents protested (or rioted) and now up to 150 of them face refoulement, in UNHCR-speak, to Syria.

  Inner City Press asked Gutteres about this; he replied with a hope that it was a one time incident, "quickly solved."

    But what about these 150 people?

  Inner City Press asked Syrian Permanent Representative Bashar Ja'afari about the camp. His answer was that government should let people return, that they only left because the rebels used them as human shields. He riffed about countries with the "dirty habit" of making money off other people's suffering, calling it a "stock market."

  French foreign minister Laurent Fabius bragged in his statement in the Council about providing doctors in Za'atari, without addressing if the camp is in a livable location much less those about to be sent back to Syria. He took only two questions afterward, none on this.

  Unlike the Permanent Representatives not only of Syria but also Russia, and the ministers of Lebanon and France (though only for two questions), Jordan's Nasser Judeh did not come to take any questions at the stakeout. But he is active on Twitter, where he has his supporters; his Permanent Representative at the UN is omnipresent. 

 So we hope to have more on these 150 (and more) people. 

From the UN's August 30, 2012 transcript:

Inner City Press: Mr. Guterres, I want to ask you about a specific UNHCR issue where there is this camp in Jordan, the Zatari camp, where some people were protesting, or rioting against the conditions. Now Jordan has said it is going to return some people to Syria, and I heard that there was a protest in Amman at your office, saying maybe they shouldn’t be in the middle of the desert with winds and scorpions. What is your position on one, the placement of that camp, and what should happen with the people who were protesting the conditions?

Mr. Guterres: First of all, the overwhelming majority of the Syrians in Jordan – and we are talking now about 180,000 people - are within the community, received by families.

At a certain moment, for reasons related to their impact on the economy, the society, the Jordanian Government – and Jordan is a sovereign country – has decided that a camp should be opened. And, obviously, that was done. The camp is in a very difficult situation, from the point of view of the environmental conditions. All agencies are doing their best, in order to provide assistance, and a lot of efforts are being made now in order to improve the camp. And I hope that these incidents will just be an incident in the context of something that will be quickly solved.

Watch this site.

As France Offers to Recognize Syria Opposition, Russia Cites Geneva Deal

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, August 30 -- France has grandly announced that it stands ready to recognize the Syrian opposition as the government. After Thursday's Security Council session, Inner City Press asked Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin what he thought of the idea.

  Churkin was diplomatic, beginning that "off course people look for various ideas to think of... We need to apply one criteria, how those ideas are correlated with a consensus basis which is reflected in the Geneva communiqué."

  This has been Russia's mantra, the text that was agreed on June 30 in Geneva by the so-called Action Group on Syria. But when Churkin this month invited the members of the Action Group to meet at New York, despite French Ambassador Gerard Araud saying he accepts such invitations, the meeting did not take place.

 The United States, whose Susan Rice was back in the Security Council for Thursday's meetin, and the United Kingdom were said to "boycott" the meeting convened by Russia.

   Inner City Press was told by sources that Germany, too, rebelled. It is not a member of the Action Group, but demanded that if the Action Group met, it immediately report back to the Council. The meeting never happened.

And Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov did not come to the Council on Thursday; neither did Hillary Clinton or Germany's minister Westerwelle. Prior to the meeting, a Syrian diplomat mocked the French meeting to Inner City Press, saying "they got ministers of Togo & Morocco, old French, no Hillary, not even Germany."

  Churkin continued with his answer, that "the Geneva communique does speak about this traditional body composed of, by the representatives of the government and various opposition groups. I'm not sure this idea of a government which will be recognized even before we know what kind of a government this is, that is entirely in line with the ideas reflected in the Geneva document. This is a question I have in my mind as I hear these ideas expressed."

  Several times, Churkin said he didn't want to engage in "polemics" with other Security Council members' foreign ministers. And so he left this one was a question, to which we will continue to seek an answer.

  Of those who came to speak at the stakeout after Thursday's meeting, Inner City Press got in questions not only to Churkin and Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari, but also to UNHCR's Gutterez and even to the foreign minister of Turkey, Ahmet Davutoglu -- but not to France's Laurent Fabius. 

  The French are tightly controlled. But what did they accomplish, really, in their August presidency of the Security Council? Click here for a review by Inner City Press. And watch this site.

As UN Refugee & Crime Agencies Sign Deal, No Safeguards, No Protection

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, October 31 -- After the UN's refugee agency UNHCR signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Monday with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, UNODC chief Yuri Fedotov told the press, "where there are refugees, there are always crime." Video here, from Minute 2.

Inner City Press asked Fedotov to explain: was this only about crimes committed against refugees, or would it include checking refugees, and even by implication sharing information with governments? Video here, from Minute 6:36.

The question seemed obvious, for example considering the controversy in the United States when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) says it will work with any criminal justice agency: protests ensue, and suspension or safeguards are demanded. Wouldn't the UN have some safeguards?

Inner City Press requested, and ultimately obtained and is putting online here, the Memorandum of Understanding, which does not appear to have any such safeguards. Fedotov's answer was that "refugees appear not in peaceful countries." UNHCR's Antonio Guterres added that conflicts today are rarely between two states.

Take for example the recent entry into Somalia by the Kenyen Army, reportedly with supportive bombardments by France (from the sea) and, it seems, from the US. This is not a conflict between two states but a self-described "hot pursuit" operation by a state on a non-state actor, Al Shabab.

But over the weekend, an aerial bombardment of a camp inside Somalia killed five, according to Medicins Sans Frontieres. Guterres insisted it isn't clear what happened, and that UNHCR has no mandate inside Somalia.

Likewise when Inner City Press asked Guterres about the plight of Kachin people displaced by Myanmar's Army offensive, he replied that UNHCR is only in other parts of Myanmar and wants to keep open the "asylum space" in Thailand. But Malaysia is moving to return people to Myanmar.

Given all this, the lack of safeguards in UNHCR's agreement with the UN's crime agency is of concern. We hope to have more on this.

Footnote: both Fedotov and Guterres were in New York meeting with Ban Ki-moon and the Chief Executives Board. On Friday outside the CEB meeting, Inner City Press poses another protection question to World Food Program chief Josette Sheeran, so far without answer.

Christine Lagarde of the IMF was there too -- to what end, nobody knows. Now Ban, Lagarde, Barack Obama and others are headed to the G20 meeting in Cannes, the UN briefing regarding which was closed to the press and public. And so it goes at the UN.

UNHCR Fundraiser Van Praag's Departure Presaged by Irregularities, Staff Complaints

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/un1hcrfunds012909.html

UNITED NATIONS, January 29 -- The UN refugee agency's director of external relations and fundraiser Nicholas Van Praag has abruptly left UNHCR, which has refused to provide any explanation. "An official confirmed, however, that he had already vacated his office at UNHCR's headquarters in Geneva." Inner City Press has obtained a copy of the staff's complaint directed in November 2008 to UNHCR High Commissioner Antonio Gutteres, and publishes it here.

In the letter, Staff Council chairperson Guy Avognon recites the adverse finding of the agency's Inspector General of Van Praag's administration of Private Sector Fundraising, as well as favoritism toward a small number of employees, friends who Van Praag brought in.

Avognon notes that "between 15 November and 22 December 2006, the Inspector General's Office carried out an ad hoc inspection of the Private Sector Fund Raising Unit, of which Mr. Van Praag is the acting Head. The inspection identified a number of serious problems and shortcomings and made a series of 12 recommendations to address them (INS/06112, March 2007). Since then, Mr. Van Praag has failed to submit an implementation report to the IGO (see 'Report on activities of the Inspector General's Office,' NAC.9611057, 21 July 2008) as is required."

Previously, Guterres and his Deputy Larry Johnstone have turned a deaf ear to staff complaints. After Inner City Press interviewed Johnstone and quoted his comment that UNHCR could not find qualified staff in Africa, Johnstone claimed that he had never said it, deriding Inner City Press as merely online media. Dissatisfaction with UNHCR leadership has only grown since then. Whether the abrupt departure of Van Praag can change anything is not clear.

The complaints against Van Praag, who before his three years at UNHCR spent 17 years at the World Bank, were widespread, and ignored by senior leadership. The letter complains "of systematic discriminatory treatment and harassment and, on the other hand, about the privileged treatment of a small number of staff recently hired by the Director under controversial circumstances, some of whom are reported to be personal friends of Mr. Van Praag. The Staff Council has been in contact with the Office of the Mediator, the Joint Medical Service and the Staff Welfare Office. They have all confirmed that they have received similar complaints about Mr. Van Praag's conduct and the adverse effects that it is having on his staff, in terms of their welfare and health. They also confirmed that these complaints were brought to your attention and to that of the Deputy High Commissioner."

In an "if-asked" handed to Inner City Press at the UN's noon briefing on January 29, UNHCR says it has visited 12 teenage Rohingya boys and "plans to discuss the team's findings with the Thai government and jointly decide on next steps." But while UNHCR brags that it has finally managed to visit some of the Myanmar refugees in custody in Thailand, what about those uncerimoniously towed back out to sea? What is UNHCR doing?

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un1hcrfunds012909.html

At UN Refugee Agency, Labor Power Plays and No Comment on Safety or Zoe's Ark Pardons

Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
and see, www.innercitypress.com/un2unhcr040108.html

UNITED NATIONS, April 1 -- The work of the UN's refugee agency threatens to be undermined by the doling out of jobs and contracts, staff dissention and management retaliation, as reflected by a recent letter of resignation of those assigned to conduct an agency staff union election. In a March 28 letter to agency chief Antonio Gutteres, the members of the UNHCR Polling Board expressed "serious concern" about Mr. Gutteres' office's attempts to influence the ostensibly free and independent election of staff representatives. Gutteres' deputy, Craig Johnstone, is said to have responded to Staff Council testimony March 17 at a High Level Committee on Management meeting in Rome about UNHCR's doling out of contracts and senior posts by, on March 18, backing an alternative slate of four, who are currently representing the Management on one or more of the joint staff-management bodies and now seeking tardy entry into the Staff Council elections.

While the UN espouses workers' rights to organize under the International Labor Organization's principles, at UNHCR senior management attempts to impact the results of elections, to retaliate against its own critics. How this impacts the refugees the agency is supposed to serve remains to be seen. What is so far known is that UNHCR, which did not timely answer questions about the underlying jobs and contracting complaint, has now for more than a week declined to answer simple questions on safety. The wider UN has for the two days since Chadian president Deby pardoned the staff of Zoe's Ark who kidnapped over 100 children declined comment twice, including on impunity. As is often said, rot starts at the head, and impunity begins at home: the aforementioned Craig Johnstone is not listed as participating in any way in the UN's public financial disclosure program.

UNHCR sources tell Inner City Press that it has been too obvious especially during the past four months that Deputy High Commissioner Johnstone was trying to dislodge the current Staff Council at any cost. Preparations were therefore made by Johnstone to mobilize certain staff to stand for election to the new Staff Council. On 15 January 2008, the Polling Board announced that the deadline for applications was close-of-business on 28 February 2008, allowing six weeks to apply. The election date at Headquarters was supposed to be mid April. Johnstone managed during those six weeks to mobilize about nine or ten people. But when the applications were opened at the closing date at the end of the work day on February 28, it became apparent that there are about ten other people who had applied and who are not necessarily Management-oriented, thus making a total of 20 candidates standing for election to the Council's 11 posts. The proposed "Management / Johnstone team" was not assured of victory.

After the closing date for application had expired, four more staff members submitted applications but were eventually rejected as being too late. There were two or three others staff members whose applications were also rejected for the same or other reasons. But this group-of-four late applicants pushed the Polling Board, composed of seven elected Polling Officers, to accept their late applications. The Polling Board reconsidered its decision and was divided on the issue. It eventually decided by a vote, 4 against 3, not to make an exception to the deadline and the four candidates were so advised, around March 4.

Johnstone was in Rome on March 17 and 18 to participate in the High Level Committee on Management. On March 17, he heard a speech which singled out UNHCR for violation of the UN Charter by committing percentages of jobs and contracts to donor countries. The very next day, Johnstone's Executive Assistant Ms. Preeta Law said that Johnstone had given his authorization for the group of four late applicants to send a personal message to all 6400 staff members through UNHCR official distribution system, contrary to UNHCR's written policy on mass distribution of messages through the "UNHCR Broadcast" e-mail system. The distribution of the message was followed by an orchestrated campaign involving senior Officers and Deputy Directors who asked staff to send messages urging the Polling Board to change their position about the deadline and to allow late applications. Some 80 of the UNHCR's 6400 staff members reportedly sent such messages. On March 20, the Polling Board announced that it was prepared to accept late application received up to midnight on 28 February, instead of close of business, but not those received on 29 February 29 or after. The Polling Board also said that they were given to understand that the distribution of the message was authorized by "the Executive Office," meaning High Commissioner Gutteres.

Gutteres, it seems, was being questioned about whether he had authorized the mass distribution of the message of March 18. Gutteres has reportedly denied involvement and claimed that he would not take action that would interfere with the work of the Polling Board. When the Polling Board heard this, on March 28, they submitted their resignations.

Sources predict it will take a few weeks for the situation to fully unfold. In principle, if a new UNHCR Staff Council is not elected according to Chapter 8 of UN Staff Rules, the joint staff - management bodies including those responsible for making recommendations on appointments and promotions cannot be constituted after the tenures of the current ones expire, thus leaving in limbo UNHCR, its staff and most importantly the refugees who are supposed to be served.

And see, www.innercitypress.com/un2unhcr040108.html