UAE delivers Arab Group speech before UN Human Rights Council

Geneva: Obaid Salem Al Za'abi, the UAE Permanent Representative to the UN and Other International Organisations in Geneva, has delivered the statement of the Arab Group before the 38th session of the UN Human Rights Council during the panel discussion on the human rights of internally displaced persons, IDPs.

The UAE is currently the chair of the Council of Heads of Arab Permanent Missions to the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The group thanked the experts for the statements they delivered before the panel discussion regarding the human rights of IDPs that coincides with the suffering of some Arab people from internal displacement due to a number of reasons, including terrorism.

The Arab IDPs form a considerable percentage of the IDPs worldwide, the statement added.

Despite all the measures undertaken by all national competent entities, many of these IDPs got no final solutions to help them rebuild their lives, which makes it imperative for us to follow more positive and comprehensive approaches to put an end to their suffering.

The foremost of all these approaches is the participation of all the active entities and coordination between all the concerned countries to meet the emergency and long-term needs of the IDPs and the hosting communities, providing the IDPs with the basic services, humanitarian needs as well as rebuilding their places of origin.

The statement also highlighted the importance of getting suitable, immediate and sustainable solutions for this issue and ensuring that the IDPs' countries of origin meet their obligations towards them.

The international community should also bear part of the burden and responsibilities for containing the consequences of internal displacement, as any IDP is a potential refugee if we fail to deal with causes of this issue, the statement added.

The statement of the Arab group also stressed the importance of cooperation in addressing the root causes of internal displacement, capacity building and exchange of information with the ultimate objective of alleviating the suffering of the IDPs.