UN News Today 12 March 2026 |

UN maritime body to hold emergency session on shipping crisis in the Gulf

The UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) is to convene an extraordinary session to address the growing risks to shipping and seafarers caused by the escalating crisis in the Gulf region, now well into its 13^th day.

The meeting is scheduled to be held in London beginning next Wednesday and focus on security concerns affecting vessels in the Arabian Sea, the Sea of Oman and particularly the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy and trade route.

The development follows multiple attacks on container vessels transiting the Persian Gulf since Israel and US bombing of Tehran began on 28 February.

According to IMO data, five vessels were attacked on Wednesday in the region’s waterways, with one seafarer killed after an incident near the Iraqi port of Khor Al Zubair.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that the mariner was an Indian national. His ship – the Safesea Vishnu – was carrying around 48,000 tonnes of liquid fuel when it was struck by an unmanned speedboat.

IOM condemns deadly strike on Lebanon shelter

Staying with the war in the Middle East, the UN migration agency, IOM has condemned a reported strike on displaced people in Beirut.

Eight people were killed and dozens injured, the International Organization for Migration said.  

More than 800,000 people have been uprooted by Israeli airstrikes and evacuation orders, issued in response to Hezbollah rocket fire into Israel after Israeli and US bombing of Iran began.

In Lebanon, 125,000 people now live in collective shelters run by the Government. Many others have nowhere safe to go and they remain at serious risk of harm.

“Tents and makeshift shelters offer no protection from the dangers of bombardment,” said IOM chief Amy Pope.

UN aid teams continue to assist those in need, including the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, which has provided mattresses, blankets, sleeping mats and other essential items for around 67,000 people in about 300 collective shelters across Lebanon.

Ukraine: Russia’s deportation of at least 1,200 children is a war crime, top Human Rights Council probe says

At least 1,200 Ukrainian children have been systematically “deported and forcibly transferred” by Russia since 2022, a top Human Rights Council probe said on Thursday, alleging crimes against humanity.

Scores of children are still missing after being deported far and wide across Russia and occupied territories while their families continue to search for them, the independent investigators told journalists in Geneva.

Here’s Pablo de Greiff from the Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine. Like the other commissioners, he is an independent expert and does not work for the UN:

“We have one case in which the family, in which an adolescent was placed, was willing to call the authorities, the police authorities, because this adolescent kid expressed the desire to return to Ukraine and to his family. Another tragic case of a similar nature, but which ended in the suicide of this young adolescent.”

Four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 80 per cent of children deported have not been returned. 

This contravenes international humanitarian law, which states that evacuations can only be temporary for compelling reasons of health, medical treatment or safety, the investigators said.

Their report states that many parents and legal guardians remain unaware of the children’s fate and whereabouts.

Evidence indicates that instead of establishing mechanisms to facilitate their return, Russian authorities “arranged for the children’s long-term placement with families or institutions in 21 regions” of Russia and in occupied areas of Ukraine, the Commissioners’ report says.

Daniel Johnson, UN News.