United Nations published this video item, entitled “Ukraine: “Almost 5 million people have been forced to leave” – Security Council Briefing (19 April)” – below is their description.
In her briefing to the Council, the Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, Kelly T. Clements, said, “in Ukraine the vast majority of those on the move are women and children, and the risks of gender-based violence, trafficking, and sexual exploitation and abuse are high.”
Anecdotal information, she said, “is already coming in about persons approaching the displaced with too good to be true promises of work, accommodation and transport.” She added that the first identified cases of trafficking “confirm that these risks are coming true.”
Russian Ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy told the Council that Western countries concerns about Ukraine and Ukrainians “are very short sighted and egotistical in nature.”
Polyanskiy said Ukrainians are seen “merely as cannon fodder in your direct war against the Russian Federation.”
At the same time, he added, “the weapons producers in Western countries are eagerly rubbing their hands calculating their profits from increased demand on military products.”
For his part, Ukraine’s Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said, “since the 5th of March, the Government of Ukraine through the ICRC mediation, offered 348 humanitarian routes. 303 of them were agreed upon, but only 176 took place. As of the 18th of April, more than 290,000 people were evacuated. None of story 38 attempts by the Ukrainian authorities to arrange humanitarian corridors for civilians from Mariupol and Volnovakha was successful due to the unwillingness of Russia.”
Before the meeting, Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Simon Coveney, told reporters outside the Council that “the important thing” is to ensure that teams from the International Criminal Court (ICC) are on the ground in Bucha “and other towns and villages and cities across Ukraine where possible, to make sure that this evidence base is not lost or covered up in some way.”
Coveney said, “that is why it’s important that now even in the context of continuing conflict, that we are gathering the evidence to ensure that those responsible can be held to account.”
Today’s meeting, which was requested by France and Mexico, focused on the situation of refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returnees in Ukraine.
United Nations YouTube Channel
Got a comment? Leave your thoughts in the comments section, below. Please note comments are moderated before publication.
