UN rights chief Volker Turk travels to West Asia amid Gaza escalation

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, began a five-day visit to West Asia on Tuesday to engage with government officials and civil society on the human rights violations taking place amid Israel’s escalation of the war in Gaza. “It has been one full month of carnage, of incessant suffering, bloodshed, destruction, outrage and despair,” Turk said in a statement. “Human rights violations are at the root of this escalation and human rights play a central role in finding a way out of this vortex of pain.” Turk is in Cairo on Tuesday and will visit Rafah, located on the border with Gaza, on Wednesday, before he travels to the Jordanian capital of Amman on Thursday, his office said in a statement. Türk has also sought access to Israel, the Occupied West Bank as well as Gaza, where the war is at its worst. The UN official is in the region to engage with government officials, civil society actors, victims and UN colleagues on the human rights situation in the region. This visit takes place against the backdrop of the ongoing, extremely serious human rights and humanitarian crisis. In Cairo on Tuesday, the High Commissioner will meet the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, as well as representatives of regional civil society organisations, and the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States. On Wednesday, he will travel to Rafah, in the east of the country, bordering the Gaza Strip. In Amman on Thursday and Friday, Türk is scheduled to meet the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, other senior government officials, as well as Palestinian and Israeli civil society representatives and the UN Country Team for the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The High Commissioner will hold a press stakeout near the Rafah crossing on Wednesday, as well as a press conference in Amman on Saturday, 11 November.