"MIGRANTS"

Almost 89,000 residents of the Karabakh region - roughly half of the region’s population - have moved to Armenia since last week’s flare-up in fighting there and the total number of arrivals could rise to 120,000 in coming days, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said. UNTV CH

More than 11,600 children crossed the Central Mediterranean Sea to Italy without their parents or legal guardians between January and mid-September 2023. This is an increase of 60 per cent compared to the same period last year, where around 7,200 unaccompanied or separated children made the perilous crossing. UNICEF

Addressing the Security Council about migrants in the Mediterranean, the Head of the UN Refugee Agency in New York, Ruven Menikdiwela, said, “Saving lives at sea and providing humanitarian assistance is one of the most basic obligations of humanity, and those performing rescue operations or helping in good faith should not be penalized for doing so.” UNIFEED / FILE

The International Organization for Migration appealed for governments in Central America and Mexico to collaborate to address the immediate humanitarian needs of people on the move as unprecedented numbers of vulnerable migrants transit through the region while also working on long-term solutions to tackle the drivers of migration. IOM

The Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Alicia Bárcena, told journalists that her country is facing “a real challenge” as “around three thousand people a day” are crossing the Darien Gap and heading north towards Mexico and the United States. UNIFEED

Regarding the recent arrival of thousands of migrants in Lampedusa, Italy, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, President of the Central African Republic, said, “These young people represent the present and the future of our continent of Africa. They are seeking desperately to reach the European continent in search of the El Dorado.” UNIFEED

Giorgia Meloni, President of the Italian Council of Ministers, said, “We must reject the utopic and self-serving narrative of those who say that a world without nations, without borders, and without identities, would also be a world without conflicts.” UNIFEED

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame said his county “remains committed to working with partners, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to contribute to a durable solution.” UNIFEED

Noon Briefing by Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General.

An official from the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said that extreme rainfall has caused devastating flooding and loss of life in Libya with an estimate of 3,000 people who have died and up to 10,000 people that are recorded to be missing in the massive floods which have overwhelmed on 10 September eastern parts of the country. UNTV CH