MEDIA ADVISORY - UN rights expert to visit Afghanistan to assess internal displacement progress and challenges

UN rights expert to visit Afghanistan to assess internal displacement progress and challenges

  

GENEVA (7 October 2016) – United Nations expert Chaloka Beyani will visit Afghanistan from 11 to 21 October 2016 to assess the human rights situation of internally displaced persons as fears grow that one million more could be displaced internally and across borders by the end of the year.  

“I visited Afghanistan in July 2012 to assist the Government to develop a policy for internally displaced persons,” said Mr Beyani, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons. “This new visit provides a timely opportunity to consider how that policy has been implemented as well as to assess ongoing and new challenges relating to internal displacement.”  

“As winter approaches it brings new challenges for IDPs and ongoing conflict is causing further mass displacement. I will visit displaced communities to assess their immediate humanitarian and protection needs,” stated the expert, who will visit Kabul and several IDP locations around the country. “I will also consider essential steps required to promote recovery and achieve durable solutions, particularly for those in protracted displacement.”

 

More than 1.1 million people have been displaced by the conflict over the last 15 years including over 277,331 people in 2016 alone. A recent influx of Afghan returnees, many from Pakistan, has increased pressure on the Government and humanitarian partners to assist and resettle hundreds of thousands more in need.  

The expert will meet senior Government officials, United Nations and other humanitarian partners, civil society and the diplomatic community. Dr. Beyani will present his preliminary findings in statement at the end of his visit. His full findings will be included in a report to the Human Rights Council in June 2017.  

ENDS

Mr. Chaloka Beyani, professor of international law at the London School of Economics, was appointed Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons by the Human Rights Council in September 2010. As a Special Rapporteur, he is part of the Special Procedures of Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization, and serve in their individual capacity. Learn more, visit: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/IDPersons/Pages/IDPersonsIndex.aspx

Check the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement:  http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/IDPersons/Pages/Standards.aspx

UN Human Rights, Country Page - Afghanistan: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/AsiaRegion/Pages/AFIndex.aspx

For more information and media requests, please contact:

In Kabul (during the mission): Danielle Moylan (moylan@un.org)

In Geneva (before and after the mission): Mr. Graham Fox (+41 22 917 9640 / gfox@ohchr.org)

You can access this media advisory at: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=20655&LangID=E

For media inquiries related to other UN independent experts:

Mr. Xabier Celaya – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917 9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)  

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